Where humanity ends in Palestine, a writer offers his library in exchange for food
Because what place do books have in a land where access to food is now wielded like a weapon? 'I once plucked roses from language,' Hamad recalls in a short essay on LitHub. But even for a writer, books can qualify as a necessity only when the sharp edge of hunger is sheathed — not when there are mouths to feed, wounds to salve, bodies to count. Twenty-one months of conflict have made Gaza, as United Nations officials have reported, 'the hungriest place on Earth'. From rice to lentils to baby formula, even the most staple of foods have been made scarce by Israeli blockades and reports emerge every day of desperate, hungry people being crushed to death by others who are just as famished and just as desperate, begging for relief at aid hubs.
This is the double tragedy of Gaza where, for millennia, olive trees and poetry grew in equal profusion. Literature may be immortal, but for an entire population that faces starvation, books, too, have been reduced to mere possessions, emergency currency to be exchanged for food. The cultural devastation of Gaza since October 2023 is heartbreaking, with libraries, museums and ancient cultural sites destroyed by bombing. But as hunger stalks through the Strip, there will come a time when the world must reckon with a greater, incalculable loss.
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News18
a day ago
- News18
Gazas children have missed 2 years of school. Truce wont undo damage
Khan Younis (Gaza Strip), Jul 21 (AP) Two years ago, Sarah Qanan was a star high school student preparing for final exams and dreaming of becoming a doctor. Today, the 18-year-old lives in a sweltering tent in the Gaza Strip and says she is just trying to stay alive. She's part of a generation of Palestinians from grade school through university who have had virtually no access to education in the territory since the war began in October 2023. Classes were suspended that month and schools were transformed into crowded shelters as hundreds of thousands fled their homes at the start of Israel's campaign of retaliation after Hamas Oct 7, 2023, attack. The closure of schools has removed a key social outlet for young people as they grapple with war, hunger and displacement. For younger children, it has meant missing out on basic skills like reading and simple arithmetic. For older students, advanced subjects, graduation exams and college applications have all been put on hold. Even if negotiations lead to another ceasefire, it's unclear when anything in Gaza will be rebuilt. Vast areas have been completely destroyed, and the U.N. children's agency estimates that nearly 90% of schools will need substantial reconstruction before they can function again. Like many in Gaza, Qanan's family has been displaced multiple times and is now living in a tent. When an Israeli airstrike destroyed their home in early 2024, she dug through the rubble in search of her books, but 'there was nothing left." 'My sole dream was to study medicine," Qanan said. 'I stopped thinking about it. All my thoughts now are about how to survive." Hundreds of thousands out of school More than 650,000 students have had no access to education since the start of the war, according to the UN children's agency, UNICEF. That includes nearly 40,000 students who were unable to take university entry exams that largely determine their career prospects. It's the first time in decades that the exams were not administered in Gaza. Israel's bombardment and ground operations have killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and displaced 90% of Gaza's population. School-age children in crowded shelters and tent camps are often forced to help their families find food, water and firewood. A complete Israeli blockade imposed in early March that was only slightly eased 2 ½ months later has driven the territory to the brink of famine. Local education officials, working with UNICEF and other aid groups, set up hundreds of learning spaces to try and provide education during the war. 'We're trying to salvage what we can of the educational process, so that the next generation doesn't slip through our fingers," said Mohamed al-Asouli, head of the education department in the southern city of Khan Younis. During a six-week ceasefire in January and February, some 600 learning spaces provided lessons for around 173,000 children, according to UNICEF. But since March, when Israel ended the truce with a surprise bombardment, nearly half have shut down. 'The impact goes beyond learning losses," said Rosalia Bollen, a UNICEF spokeswoman. 'Children in Gaza have been trapped in a cycle not just of exposure to unprecedented violence, but also a cycle of fear, of toxic stress, of anxiety." Two years of my life are gone Some have tried to continue their studies through online learning, but it's not easy in Gaza, where there has been no central electricity since the start of the war. Palestinians must use solar panels or hard-to-find generators to charge their phones, and internet is unreliable. 'The mobile phone is not always charged, and we only have one at home," said Nesma Zouaroub, a mother of four school-age children. She said her youngest son should be in second grade but does not know how to read or write. 'The children's future is ruined," she said. Ola Shaban tried to continue her civil engineering studies online through her university after the campus was destroyed by Israeli forces in April 2024. She had to walk long distances to get a signal in her hometown near Khan Younis, and she eventually gave up. 'I couldn't continue because of lack of internet, continuous displacement and the constant sense of fear," she said. 'Two years of my life are gone." Israel's offensive has killed over 57,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government, does not differentiate between combatants and civilians but says over half the dead are women and children. Its figures are used by the UN and other international organisations as the most reliable statistics on war casualties. Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people in the Oct 7 attack and abducted 251. They are still holding 50 hostages, less than half believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire deals or other agreements. Qanan's father, Ibrahim, a local journalist, said his family did everything it could to support Sarah's ambition to study medicine, only to see it go up in smoke when the war broke out. 'The war stunned us and turned our life upside down," the father of six said. 'Our dreams and hopes were buried in the rubble of our home." (AP) NSA NSA (This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed - PTI) view comments First Published: Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Mint
2 days ago
- Mint
Why Israel's chaotic new food program in Gaza has turned so deadly
Thousands of hungry Palestinians amassed last Tuesday morning outside a barbed-wire fence surrounding the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid center here. The moment the gates cracked open, the crowd surged forward. American security contractors tried to keep control, but scores of men pushed through barricades and snatched boxes of food awaiting distribution. Others sprinted in behind them. Men on speeding motorcycles raced past the pedestrians to grab whatever food they could. Gunshots rang out—it wasn't clear from where. Within about 15 minutes, all the food was gone. Chaotic scenes like that one, witnessed by a Wall Street Journal reporter, have plagued the new food-distribution system run by an Israeli-backed foundation known as the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Since the program began two months ago, hundreds of people have died and hundreds more have been wounded trying to get food from the four GHF sites, according to local health authorities. Israel's military acknowledges opening fire on crowds that come too close to its troops. As the death toll has climbed, the United Nations, many humanitarian organizations and more than 20 governments have condemned the new approach, which supplanted a much larger U.N. effort. Israel said the new system is intended to prevent Hamas from diverting aid to fuel its operations. Anyone who hasn't witnessed the scene on the ground here might wonder how such violence could result from a food-distribution operation. The Journal's observation of one morning's distribution effort—from when it kicked off to when it was overrun—reveals some reasons why the setup has been so beset with problems. For starters, GHF relies on the Israeli military nearby to provide security and keep its workers safe, which brings sometimes desperate Palestinian crowds into close proximity with troops. The U.N.'s food-distribution points, by contrast, didn't usually have Israeli troops nearby. A second big problem is that the demand for food far outstrips GHF's current capacity, resulting in overwhelming numbers of people fighting to get their hands on scarce rations. Aid-related violence also has broken out far from GHF sites. On Sunday, dozens of Palestinians were killed or wounded as they sought aid passing into northern Gaza from Israel, according to local health authorities. The Israeli military said thousands of Gazans had gathered in the north of the Strip, and it fired 'warning shots" to remove a threat posed to soldiers. The military disputed the casualty numbers reported by Gazan authorities. There were no reported casualties at the GHF site on the outskirts of Khan Younis the day the Journal visited. GHF said its post-operation report for that Tuesday didn't show any shooting by its security contractors, though shots are audible on a video taken by the Journal. Israeli soldiers weren't present at the site itself, though there was a tank nearby. But the next day—last Wednesday—at least 20 people were killed in a crush at the site, according to health authorities and GHF. GHF said its security contractors had pepper-sprayed people rushing the site that day. Ahmad Tareq al-Dahoudi was one of those trying to get food that day. 'I couldn't breathe from the smell," he recalled. 'I didn't get anything and ran away. There were lots of children, women and elderly people. I saw about 15 dead bodies." Israel Ziv, a retired Israeli general who once headed Israel's Gaza division, said: 'The area is not stable, it's under chaos. The threat of starvation under those conditions is so severe that there's no way you can create a stable system in unstable surroundings." Israeli soldiers interviewed by the Journal said they have fired rifles, machine guns and even artillery when crowds veered off approved routes to GHF sites or took short cuts. Soldiers said shots are fired around crowds to ward them off, but also at times directly at people who move in their direction. Israel's military said it tries to avoid using gunfire and reviews each incident to learn from them to reduce harm. Israeli military officials said troops have caused deaths, but some said that Palestinian authorities' numbers are inflated. One Israeli reservist said in an interview he saw soldiers firing toward Gazans carrying white flags who veered off an approved route in mid-June. 'We have an unwritten rule that if you are worried and they get too close and you see that it could be something that puts you and your team at risk, you don't take that risk," he said. He said soldiers warned people not to come closer, but they continued. Once the crowds passed what the soldiers considered a red line, the soldiers opened fire. They are told to fire warning shots in the air or to shoot at people's knees, but mistakes happen, he said. A GHF spokesperson said it has repeatedly asked the Israeli military to improve the safety of access routes to the sites, and that in recent weeks the military has taken steps to do so. Last month, the military said it would change the way it operates and add signs and fencing in hopes of 'minimizing friction with the population." During the Journal's visit to the site outside Khan Younis—a trip organized by Israel's military—none of that was evident, and troops made no effort to control crowds. 'Every day, our team shows up to do one thing: feed the people of Gaza," GHF said in a written statement. 'GHF is currently the only organization consistently delivering food to civilians in Gaza, and the heavy crowds at our distribution sites reflect that reality." Previously, food had been amassed by the U.N. and private charities and distributed primarily by the U.N. at about 400 sites in population centers around Gaza. The U.N. still brings in some food, but much less than before. The new aid plan was designed by a group of about a dozen Israeli reservists and businessmen who began meeting as early as December 2023 in an effort to sideline the U.N., according to people who took part in the discussions. It got a green light when a new defense minister, Israel Katz, was appointed and President Trump was elected in the U.S., a former senior military officer who helped design the plan said. Before the launch, some Israelis familiar with the plan warned senior officials the plan didn't include enough sites and they weren't located properly, raising the potential for dangerous overcrowding and violence, according to documents reviewed by the Journal and one of the people who raised concerns. GHF, the foundation that runs the program, was incorporated in Delaware in February and currently is led by Johnnie Moore, an American businessman, evangelical Christian leader and former Trump campaign adviser. GHF has contracted Safe Reach Solutions, established in Wyoming in November, to provide security for the sites. It isn't clear how the program has been funded. Some countries and many humanitarian organizations have refused to work with it, crimping sources of international help. The U.S. State Department approved $30 million for GHF in June, but it has yet to be disbursed, a department spokesperson said. Israel launched the program after blocking food shipments into Gaza for 11 weeks, an embargo that ran down stockpiles and led to widespread concern about starvation. GHF operates mainly in southern Gaza and is meant to serve around one million people. Israel hopes to deprive Hamas of a source of income. But Israel doesn't know who is actually picking up the aid at its sites, and the restrictions it has put on food supplies is deepening its international isolation. The European Union has threatened to downgrade relations with Israel, largely over humanitarian aid. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant have been accused in the International Criminal Court of using starvation as a weapon. The plan has become a public-relations disaster for international firms that advised on the project, including the Boston Consulting Group, which fired partners who worked on it. GHF's previous executive director, Jake Wood, a U.S. military veteran, quit just before the project launched. People carrying aid parcels near a refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip. The entire population of Gaza faces shortages of food. The U.N. Relief and Works Agency said 10% of children screened at its sites were malnourished, and the World Food Program said tens of thousands need treatment related to malnourishment. GHF said its food boxes include things like flour, pasta, sugar, rice, cooking oil, beans, tuna, tea, cookies and potatoes. Palestinians said the handouts vary by the day and typically don't contain nutrients such as animal protein. Jameel al-Nahhal, a 21-year-old from Rafah who has sought food at GHF sites, said if he is lucky he comes away with flour, lentils and cooking oil. 'The crowds are huge, and the quantities are tiny," he said. 'I am responsible for my father, mother and sisters. The amount I bring back lasts a day or two, at most." Israel has said it plans to expand the number of distribution sites, but hasn't said when or where. GHF's four sites aren't always open, and it can be hard for Palestinians to know which ones will have food. The operators try to control the crowds with fences and gates, but distribution is typically disorderly, and supplies vanish quickly, leading to melees. On the program's first day, tens of thousands of Gazans overran the Khan Younis site, flooding through a small opening after the gate collapsed and forcing the roughly 40 people working as security contractors on site to retreat. They stripped the site of everything, including fencing, lightbulbs and a generator, as the Israeli military and U.S. contractors watched from a shared situation room. After that, the Israeli military decided to enforce a red line about a mile away from the Khan Younis compound to prevent crowding at the entrance before trucks could be unloaded. Suddenly, the crowds of civilians moving through Gaza before dawn to reach the sites before they opened were running into Israeli forces tasked with holding them back. On Saturday, more than 20 Palestinians were killed on their way to aid sites, according to local health authorities. The Israeli military acknowledged opening fire around a kilometer away from an aid site. Some soldiers said in interviews that anyone who veered off the regular path toward the Israeli position—either because they wanted to take a shortcut or got lost—was considered a threat and fired upon. At times, it put the crowds behind them in the line of fire, they said. 'When about fifteen hundred to two thousand people come through a very small entrance, and they are all stressed and pushing, it comes to warning shots. Or when they cross a certain boundary, it comes to warning shots," one of the soldiers said. 'It's an uncomfortable situation." GHF has repeatedly blamed Hamas for some of the violence. Last week, it said it had 'credible reason to believe" the stampede that led to the deaths on Wednesday had been sparked by Hamas-affiliated elements in the crowd. Hamas has repeatedly threatened Palestinians who cooperate with the plan with violence. Last month, GHF said Hamas militants attacked a busload of its Palestinian staff, killing at least eight. This month, GHF and the Israeli military said they suspected that Hamas militants had injured two American security staffers with grenades. In ongoing talks over a cease-fire, one of Hamas's primary demands has been an end to the GHF program and a return to aid distribution via the U.N. and humanitarian organizations. Tension has mounted between GHF and the Israeli military, with each side blaming the other for the chaos. Last week, the military said it stopped enforcing its line around the distribution center near Khan Younis, where the stampede occurred. GHF said its security contractors would assume responsibility for crowd control close to the site. It isn't clear whether Israel has made similar changes at other sites. A video taken on Friday and geolocated by investigative group Bellingcat a few hundred yards from a separate GHF distribution site showed tanks and aid seekers fleeing as shots were heard. The military said it had fired warning shots to hold back individuals it perceived as a threat to its forces. GHF devised a plan to use flags to better signal whether a site was open or closed, so people would know when it is safe to approach. A red flag meant a site would stay closed, and a green flag meant it would be open. Last Tuesday, inside the makeshift military base near the distribution site, soldiers monitored a drone feed that showed tensions rising in the crowd outside the distribution center as aid workers began handing out boxes of food to people at the entrance. Throughout the process, the flag remained red. Write to Dov Lieber at and Anat Peled at
Time of India
2 days ago
- Time of India
World War 3 threat? Reddit thread asking ‘what if war breaks out' becomes worldwide wake-up call
In a world gripped by escalating conflicts, from Russia's war in Ukraine to Israel's strike on Gaza , from Taiwan's looming standoff to silent proxy clashes unfolding across Africa and the Red Sea, the question is no longer if war touches civilian life, but when and how. With several countries involved in armed conflicts, there is a threat that World War III may erupt anytime. A simple question posted on Reddit , 'What are we supposed to do if war breaks out?' has gone viral, igniting a wide-ranging conversation about modern war readiness . Explore courses from Top Institutes in Select a Course Category PGDM Digital Marketing CXO Cybersecurity Degree Healthcare others Finance Others healthcare MCA Data Science Design Thinking Technology Project Management Leadership Public Policy Operations Management Data Analytics Product Management Data Science Management Artificial Intelligence MBA Skills you'll gain: Financial Analysis & Decision Making Quantitative & Analytical Skills Organizational Management & Leadership Innovation & Entrepreneurship Duration: 24 Months IMI Delhi Post Graduate Diploma in Management (Online) Starts on Sep 1, 2024 Get Details The post, made on Reddit's r/NoStupidQuestions forum, drew thousands of comments from veterans, civilians, students, and citizens from conflict-affected countries, offering a snapshot of how people across the globe think about the possibility of war today. 'Business as Usual,' Even in Crisis One of the most upvoted responses recalled working during the 9/11 terror attacks. The user said their manager told them to 'open the store, business as usual.' Others echoed this, stating that unless conflict reaches their doorstep, daily life is unlikely to stop. Live Events A US veteran wrote, 'War is irrelevant to the average American unless they serve. For most people, life will continue, schools, jobs, shopping, even if there's a conflict overseas.' Civilians in war zones offer a stark reality Users from Ukraine, Israel, and Gaza added firsthand perspectives. One commenter from Ukraine wrote, 'When the bombs started falling, we still had university lectures. People adapt fast. Life doesn't stop, even in war.' An Israeli reservist noted, 'Air raid sirens don't stop work or school. You take shelter, then return to class or your desk.' Emotional and practical preparation Military veterans in the thread warned young enlistees and civilians alike to take the possibility of war seriously. Several advised having basic emergency plans in place: copies of ID, emergency contacts, food, water, and essential medications. 'Don't panic,' one user advised. 'Know where to go, how to contact family, and have some supplies, just like you would for a hurricane or earthquake.' Is a draft likely? Many users asked about military drafts. Experts note that the US has not had an active draft since 1973, and reinstating it would require an act of Congress. Most military roles today are filled voluntarily. Major outcomes War may not disrupt daily life immediately. Most civilians will continue their daily routines unless directly impacted. Emergency preparation is wise. Similar to preparing for natural disasters, basic readiness can help. Mental health and emotional support matter. Several users emphasized the importance of staying calm, connected, and informed. What to do if war breaks out Follow official guidance. Monitor government advisories and emergency alerts. Have essentials ready. Prepare basic supplies: water, food, cash, medications, and key documents. Stay informed. Use verified news sources. Avoid misinformation on social media. Remain calm. Fear spreads faster than facts. Focus on safety, not panic.
