Family in Gaza has no 'flour or clean water, basic necessities', says Cork chef
A soft thud as someone collapses on the street from starvation is an increasingly common sound in Gaza.
Cork chef and University College Cork student Habib Al Ostaz's family now hear that sound frequently, with war-weary people suddenly crumpling from starvation and increasingly from thirst.
His father narrowly escaped being killed or maimed when a 'death market' — where aid was being delivered by the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation — was bombed by Israeli forces.
They never returned for much-needed aid.
His family's voices are now so weak they are barely audible.
'I avoid calling them sometimes now. It's really hard to hear their voices. I sometimes can't handle it, so I chat in messages instead,' Habib told the Irish Examiner.
'I have no words to support them.
People often have not eaten in three days
An acute water shortage is also a huge problem.
Children there are now dying of thirst, the UN said this week.
Disease is also rampant due to a block on water distribution, leading to serious problems with sanitation and sewerage.
Fuel for trucks to distribute water across the territory has not been allowed into the region.
Israel blocked all supplies from early March to the end of May and continues to impose restrictions, rights groups say, and the territory of more than 2m people is suffering from famine-like conditions.
More than 56,077 people, including many children, have been killed in Gaza since October 2023.
People carrying aid parcels, walk along the Salah al-Din Rd near the Nusseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, used by food-seeking Palestinians to reach an aid distributution point set up by the privately-run Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Picture: Eyad Baba/AFP
Habib's family is subsisting on lentils, eating one meagre meal every two days.
They have no flour, so they ground the lentils to make a flour substitute for bread.
It causes intense pain in their stomachs, but they have no other option for food.
They have also ground down animal food to make a flour for bread.
They laughed that they eat animal food now. It hurts me so much
When they can, they make 'coffee' out of chickpeas.
'Their voices sound completely different now. They're so weak.
'Imagine if you haven't eaten in a week, no proper protein, no fresh carbohydrates. It's like a car with no fuel.
'It's not fair. Here we have so much, but they don't even have flour or clean water, basic human necessities.'
As most infrastructure has been bombed in Gaza, there is no water supply or electricity.
His family walk 500m every day to get a supply of somewhat dirty water for the day.
More than 500 people have been killed by Israeli fire at these aid distribution points since the start of last month, and almost 3,800 were wounded, according to figures issued by the Gazan health ministry.
Security guards ride aboard trucks carrying humanitarian aid in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza, on Wednesday. Picture: Ahmad Salem/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Habib's father escaped a bombing by seconds at one two weeks ago.
'I warned my brother not to go there,' Habib said.
'My dad went once. He walked for four or five kilometres to get there with his friends and neighbours.
'Bombs started falling when they were sitting there waiting for the aid trucks. My dad fled. When he went back, he saw the place where he had been sitting was bombed. More than 50 people were killed there that day. He knew some of them.
People know it's too dangerous to go, but they have no choice. They have no water or food, so they're going to die anyway
His family has remained in their home in North Gaza despite an evacuation order.
'They know it's dangerous, but they have nowhere else to go,' Habib said.
His family moved south as refugees under previous evacuation orders, but those areas were still attacked.
'Nowhere is safe in Gaza,' Habib said.
A neighbour's home was bombed this week — killing all 20 people inside, many of them children. Some were refugees from another part of Gaza who went to seek shelter with relatives.
One was Habib's age and he knew them to see around the area since he was a child.
More than 70 of Habib's friends and relatives have been killed since the bloody conflict erupted.
Many of his school friends are now dead.
Palestinian women mourn the death of loved ones, killed during overnight Israeli strikes, outside the morgue of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on June 26, 2025. Picture: Omar Al-Qatta/AFP)
His mother was warned to leave the home as a large building just 10m away was about to be targeted by airstrikes in recent days.
'She left and it was bombed five minutes later,' Habib said.
Their home was also damaged in the blast. It has already been hit multiple times, but the family feels forced to stay and try to repair it.
Outside is a sea of mangled buildings, some pulverised, others half collapsed, large concrete slabs teetering at alarming angles over piles of dust and debris.
His father was walking down a nearby street when an Israeli intelligence agent called his mobile phone, asking him to remove a woman who was still in a building that was about to be bombed.
'He could see exactly where my father was and told him where to go,' Habib said.
He got the woman out and the building was bombed
'Israel knows everything about us, they have our phone numbers, they know our underwear size.'
Palestinians search for usable items in the rubble of heavily damaged and collapsed buildings after Israeli attacks on Al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City on June 26, 2025. Picture: Saeed MMT Jaras/Anadolu via Getty Images
Meanwhile, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the EU's failure to reach a unified stance on the Gazan humanitarian crisis was 'a huge stain'.
Europe will lose its credibility unless it unifies to end the blockade on the strip to get urgently-needed aid to the people of Gaza, he said this week in Brussels.
On Wednesday, draft legislation was published which would ban the sale of Israeli goods produced in occupied Palestinian territories in Ireland.
However, it did not include any reference to services also being banned.
The Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025 draft will now be sent for pre-legislative scrutiny by the Oireachtas foreign affairs committee.
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Irish Examiner
3 days ago
- Irish Examiner
Family in Gaza has no 'flour or clean water, basic necessities', says Cork chef
A soft thud as someone collapses on the street from starvation is an increasingly common sound in Gaza. Cork chef and University College Cork student Habib Al Ostaz's family now hear that sound frequently, with war-weary people suddenly crumpling from starvation and increasingly from thirst. His father narrowly escaped being killed or maimed when a 'death market' — where aid was being delivered by the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation — was bombed by Israeli forces. They never returned for much-needed aid. His family's voices are now so weak they are barely audible. 'I avoid calling them sometimes now. It's really hard to hear their voices. I sometimes can't handle it, so I chat in messages instead,' Habib told the Irish Examiner. 'I have no words to support them. People often have not eaten in three days An acute water shortage is also a huge problem. Children there are now dying of thirst, the UN said this week. Disease is also rampant due to a block on water distribution, leading to serious problems with sanitation and sewerage. Fuel for trucks to distribute water across the territory has not been allowed into the region. Israel blocked all supplies from early March to the end of May and continues to impose restrictions, rights groups say, and the territory of more than 2m people is suffering from famine-like conditions. More than 56,077 people, including many children, have been killed in Gaza since October 2023. People carrying aid parcels, walk along the Salah al-Din Rd near the Nusseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, used by food-seeking Palestinians to reach an aid distributution point set up by the privately-run Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Picture: Eyad Baba/AFP Habib's family is subsisting on lentils, eating one meagre meal every two days. They have no flour, so they ground the lentils to make a flour substitute for bread. It causes intense pain in their stomachs, but they have no other option for food. They have also ground down animal food to make a flour for bread. They laughed that they eat animal food now. It hurts me so much When they can, they make 'coffee' out of chickpeas. 'Their voices sound completely different now. They're so weak. 'Imagine if you haven't eaten in a week, no proper protein, no fresh carbohydrates. It's like a car with no fuel. 'It's not fair. Here we have so much, but they don't even have flour or clean water, basic human necessities.' As most infrastructure has been bombed in Gaza, there is no water supply or electricity. His family walk 500m every day to get a supply of somewhat dirty water for the day. More than 500 people have been killed by Israeli fire at these aid distribution points since the start of last month, and almost 3,800 were wounded, according to figures issued by the Gazan health ministry. Security guards ride aboard trucks carrying humanitarian aid in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza, on Wednesday. Picture: Ahmad Salem/Bloomberg via Getty Images Habib's father escaped a bombing by seconds at one two weeks ago. 'I warned my brother not to go there,' Habib said. 'My dad went once. He walked for four or five kilometres to get there with his friends and neighbours. 'Bombs started falling when they were sitting there waiting for the aid trucks. My dad fled. When he went back, he saw the place where he had been sitting was bombed. More than 50 people were killed there that day. He knew some of them. People know it's too dangerous to go, but they have no choice. They have no water or food, so they're going to die anyway His family has remained in their home in North Gaza despite an evacuation order. 'They know it's dangerous, but they have nowhere else to go,' Habib said. His family moved south as refugees under previous evacuation orders, but those areas were still attacked. 'Nowhere is safe in Gaza,' Habib said. A neighbour's home was bombed this week — killing all 20 people inside, many of them children. Some were refugees from another part of Gaza who went to seek shelter with relatives. One was Habib's age and he knew them to see around the area since he was a child. More than 70 of Habib's friends and relatives have been killed since the bloody conflict erupted. Many of his school friends are now dead. Palestinian women mourn the death of loved ones, killed during overnight Israeli strikes, outside the morgue of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on June 26, 2025. Picture: Omar Al-Qatta/AFP) His mother was warned to leave the home as a large building just 10m away was about to be targeted by airstrikes in recent days. 'She left and it was bombed five minutes later,' Habib said. Their home was also damaged in the blast. It has already been hit multiple times, but the family feels forced to stay and try to repair it. Outside is a sea of mangled buildings, some pulverised, others half collapsed, large concrete slabs teetering at alarming angles over piles of dust and debris. His father was walking down a nearby street when an Israeli intelligence agent called his mobile phone, asking him to remove a woman who was still in a building that was about to be bombed. 'He could see exactly where my father was and told him where to go,' Habib said. He got the woman out and the building was bombed 'Israel knows everything about us, they have our phone numbers, they know our underwear size.' Palestinians search for usable items in the rubble of heavily damaged and collapsed buildings after Israeli attacks on Al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City on June 26, 2025. Picture: Saeed MMT Jaras/Anadolu via Getty Images Meanwhile, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the EU's failure to reach a unified stance on the Gazan humanitarian crisis was 'a huge stain'. Europe will lose its credibility unless it unifies to end the blockade on the strip to get urgently-needed aid to the people of Gaza, he said this week in Brussels. On Wednesday, draft legislation was published which would ban the sale of Israeli goods produced in occupied Palestinian territories in Ireland. However, it did not include any reference to services also being banned. The Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025 draft will now be sent for pre-legislative scrutiny by the Oireachtas foreign affairs committee. Read More Colin Sheridan: Giving up on Gaza now is a surrender to immorality that will shame our children
Irish Examiner
5 days ago
- Irish Examiner
Sarah Harte: Women have choice in theory, but money rules
The question of why attitudes to procreation and family size have radically altered is both fascinating and complicated. The global fertility rate is, on average, less than half what it was in the 1960s. The fertility crisis has implications for individuals and societies, and Ireland is no different. The falling birth rates present society with a significant challenge. Practically, we need more people of working age to support the growing number of pensioners who are living longer. A new national women's health survey, commissioned by the Irish Examiner and conducted among over 1,000 women aged 18 and above, has revealed some interesting facts about the choice to have children. The word 'choice' has a long, dark history in Ireland, where many battles were fought over a woman's right to choose to procreate in a country which coercively forced women into having large families. Several older women I have met made it clear that they would rather not have had big families. Some seem borderline bitter about it. In the early 90s, when I was at college, the biggest concern young women had was not getting pregnant. College doctors were still delivering lectures on morality and refusing to hand out prescriptions for the pill. How many children were born as a result of those older male GPs imposing their Catholic views on students? It's infinitely more civilised that reproductive decisions are now the choice of women and couples. However, can a choice not to have a child be said to be genuine if it's fettered by economics and infrastructure so that you are effectively priced out of the baby market? The Irish Examiner survey revealed last week that one in three women cannot afford to have a baby, or another child, with younger women in particular forced to put family plans on hold. The question asked was: "Financially, I don't feel I am in a position to have a child/another child". Housing You don't need to be a deep thinker to compute that the lack of affordable housing constitutes a significant barrier to having children. With census figures showing 41% of Irish people aged 18 to 34 still live with their parents, and Eurostat figures pegging that figure even higher, at two out of three young people in that age bracket, the question arises as to how people even get pregnant. Or develop stable emotional relationships that might lead to the desire or conditions to have a family in the first place. The housing crisis is affecting many countries worldwide, but in Ireland, a significant ideological shift is necessary in how we perceive property ownership. The purpose of property used to be for a family or an individual to have an independent life, not to accumulate wealth from land ownership. Sadly, young people are being prevented from reaching milestones that we once took for granted, such as flying the coop and getting on with their lives. Childcare One thing that hasn't changed is that a proper, high-quality, publicly funded childcare system remains elusive here. The report on the National Agency for Early Learning and Childcare may not be delivered until 2026, with no indication of when the long-awaited agency will be established. Many parents are already paying the equivalent of a second mortgage for childcare. In many couples with two parents working, they are just about staying solvent because they've chosen to have a family. This directly limits family size. I would wager that while the financial burden of childcare falls on a couple, the majority of working fathers do not obsess over childcare in the same way that working mothers do, and that hasn't changed because, generally, the disproportionate burden of childcare falls on mothers. The system is stacked against you. There is nothing more likely to push you into a toilet cubicle to have a quiet cry when your childminder hands in her notice, even though you believed her every wish was your command, because you were hell-bent on keeping her. Alternatively, finding childcare places is both challenging and among the most expensive in Europe. Suppose you have a partner who isn't present due to their career. In that case, it's a rollercoaster of hard choices, because it's primarily women who fill those inevitable gaps when children are sick, something goes wrong, or when you have to frantically juggle a boss's demands with children's needs. One friend, whose mother did all her childminding, shopping, and cooking, was the envy of us all for years. When that arrangement ended, she gave up work, not necessarily without a significant degree of resentment. The Irish Examiner survey indicates that some Irish women would be willing to have children sooner or have larger families, provided there are appropriate political interventions to create conditions conducive to doing so, namely, available and affordable housing and childcare. Shifting values But it also seems plausible that the notion of motherhood as the primary placeholder for women's desires has lost some of its cultural currency. The last census in Ireland revealed that the number of childless families had increased to 394,052, representing a significant shift since 2016, with the birth rate dropping to its lowest point in 60 years. No single factor likely contributes to people feeling empowered to have children at the right time, but as the Iona Institute pointed out in a paper earlier this year, a shift in values may also be behind the plummeting fertility rates. They link this to a decline in religious affiliation. Whatever about the link between religious belief and falling fertility rates, some people are almost certainly deciding that it's not worth the hassle. It seems plausible that the notion of motherhood as the primary placeholder for women's desires has lost some of its cultural currency. File picture A UN report released this month, following an extensive global survey of 14,000 people in 14 countries across five continents, exposed several uncomfortable truths. For example, in Sweden, where public childcare is excellent, a third of the Swedes surveyed stated they still didn't want to invest the time and energy required to have children. Like it or not, the reality is that more people live full lives without children, although parents, or what I loosely think of as the 'Baby on Board' sticker brigade, often seem to believe otherwise. The UN report also highlighted how, in 'many countries', men have a greater desire for more children than women. It also revealed that women want more 'supportive partners'. These facts are noteworthy. Younger women who may be more financially independent and therefore more empowered than older generations may think, "Hang on a second, this isn't a good deal for me". Economists have highlighted the 'child penalty', which is the pay cut that women disproportionately suffer when they have a child, which, as Dr Dora Tuda, an ERSI research officer, commenting on the Irish Examiner survey said is 'on average experience a 20% income loss after having a child compared to men with the same experience and qualifications. This is because of maternity leave — once they return to work, it takes time to catch up. They may lose chances of promotion'. Like it or not, the reality is that more people live full lives without children. File picture Pouring their lives into children is riskier for women. Maybe that dampens their zeal for procreation and leaves them with a rational desire to be 'child-free' rather than 'childless'. Certainly, in Ireland, the days of lying on your back as a woman and thinking of old Ireland are thankfully long gone. The question that both the Irish Examiner and UN surveys leave us with is how we, as a society, can make parenthood more accessible and less burdensome while also supporting individuals who choose not to have children, so that we can all lead meaningful and full lives.
Irish Independent
6 days ago
- Irish Independent
Letters: Spend less time scrolling on your phone and give all that time to volunteering
If anyone doubts that it's an addiction, then try to get them to spend a day in the park reading a book and nothing else. What is most sad is that this lost time could be far better spent giving back as volunteers for any number of organisations who would welcome their time and effort. Any other helpful activity is good karma. As an example, I walk dogs for people whose health means they can't – although, with the 65kg Great Dane, he walks me. Denis Fitzgerald, Melbourne, Australia School's 'guest tea' brought me down memory lane; it's nice to see community last I had the pleasure of attending a 'guest tea' at St Joseph's Grammar School, Donaghmore, Co Tyrone. What a heartening sight it was – tables groaning under the weight of traybakes, flans, buns and sandwiches cut with a precision that would make an engineer weep. It brought me straight back to my childhood, watching my mother preparing for similar events in aid of local charities – flans carefully cooled on the windowsill, jelly salads quivering with anticipation and a stern warning not to touch anything until the big event. It was more than nostalgia – it was community in action. In an age of contactless payments and supermarket cakes, there's something quietly heroic about buttering 50 rounds of bread and decorating a table with flowers from your own garden. Enda Cullen, Tullysaran, Armagh Our leaders' reaction, or lack thereof, to US attack on Iran is a shameful blot The pithy saying that 'the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men (and women) to say and do nothing' – attributed to John Stuart Mill – describes the reaction of Western political and religious leaders to the US attack on Iran. To our shame, it includes our own political leaders. Whether it is fear of Donald Trump or breaking out of the Western consensus, the cowardice of our leaders when confronted with the real possibility of open world war is a shameful blot on their integrity, and ours. ADVERTISEMENT Brendan Butler, Drumcondra, Dublin Trump's Iran strike looks more like a gamble than a clear strategic decision The decision of the US to attack Iran raises valid questions, including whether the decision was a sound one, given the widely held belief that enough enriched uranium to make seven nuclear weapons had already been removed to other, still unknown, sites. But also: why now? Regardless of the degradation of Iranian proxies by Israeli strikes, there are an estimated 40,000 US troops within easy reach of Iran's deadly conventional arsenal, risking an immense conflagration in the wider Middle East. Mr Trump's decision looks more like a gamble than a strategic decision. If he has got it wrong, he will become just another US president who started a war he could not finish – but we will all pay the price. Seán Kirwan, Bray, Co Wicklow America just poked a nest of bees with no guarantee we won't all end up stung Events in the Middle East could have many outcomes. Having access to the ultimate weapon is not the greatest fear now. If Iran does possess a large quantity of even low-grade nuclear material, the likelihood of a 'dirty' ballistic missile fired at Israel is the greatest threat – and even if this missile is intercepted by the Iron Dome defences, it will have the same effect as large-scale contamination. The absence of increased radiation readings at the bomb sites raises the likelihood that these nuclear materials had already been relocated. So thank you, US, for poking the nest of bees. Ray Dunne, Enfield, Co Meath World should welcome all effort to keep Tehran from having nuclear weapons The comparative availability of the internet in this country is not the only reason that I know the names 'Fordow' 'Natanz' and 'Esfahan', while the average subject of the Islamic Republic of Iran has never heard of 'Ardnacrusha' 'Edenderry' or 'Poolbeg'. I know them because for more than 20 years, they have been synonymous with a globally destabilising, bloodthirsty junta's drive towards developing nuclear weaponry, with stated purposes oscillating between domestic medical research and the eradication of Western decadence. The fact that that junta is willing to hang its citizens from cranes for protesting, flog them for dancing and consuming alcohol, imprison them for eating during Ramadan, and blind and mutilate them for a host of other supposed offences is reason enough to deprive them of weapons of mass destruction. The fact that, through their murderous agents, they are also willing to visit their poisonous ideology on families like those of Irish Private Sean Rooney and countless others means that they must be deprived by any means necessary. We wasted decades asking them nicely, to no avail. Killian Foley-Walsh, Kilkenny Presidential terms need to be shorter and office needs to be more accessible to all I disagree with Billy Ryle ('Office of the President belongs in another era, its cost is needed in this one,' Letters, June 23). I think it is excellent that Ireland has an elected ceremonial head of state instead of a hereditary monarch we suffer in Britain. However, I agree with Billy on two points. The presidential term is too long, being 14 years if re-elected. Two terms of five years should be the limit. Also, qualifying requirements should be eased, making the office more accessible to the ordinary people it represents. At least the Republic of Ireland has an elected head of state and the sums it costs to maintain, as quoted by Mr Ryle, represent good value, in my opinion. Dominic Shelmerdine, London T-shirt slogans are getting interesting and I'm always happy to help out if needed Recently on my daily stroll, I met a young man wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the words ' What time is mass?' I was happy to tell him. Tom Gilsenan, Beaumont, Dublin
