‘We are being slaughtered': Gazans risk their lives on desperate journeys for food
Like thousands of other
Palestinians
in
Gaza
, Hind Al-Nawajha takes a dangerous, miles-long journey every day to try to get some food for her family, hoping she makes it back alive.
Accompanied by her sister, Mazouza, the mother of four ducked down and hid behind a pile of rubble on the roadside as gunshots echoed nearby.
'You either come back carrying [food] for your children and they will be happy, or you come back in a shroud, or you go back upset [without food] and your children will cry,' said the 38-year-old, a resident of Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza.
'This is life, we are being slaughtered, we can't do it any more.'
READ MORE
In the past two days,
dozens of Palestinians have been killed
by Israeli fire as they tried to get food from aid trucks brought into the enclave by the
United Nations
(UN) and international relief agencies, Gaza-based medics said.
On Thursday, medics said at least 51 people were killed by Israeli gunfire and military strikes, including 12 people who tried to approach a site operated by the
US
- and
Israeli
-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in the central Gaza Strip, the latest in near-daily reports of people being killed while seeking food.
Palestinian children gather at a hot meal distribution point in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip. Photograph: Eyad Baba/AFP via Getty Images
The Israeli military said there were several attempts by 'suspects' to approach its forces in the Netzarim area in the central Gaza Strip in a manner that endangered them. It said forces fired warning shots to prevent suspects from approaching them and it was currently unaware of injuries in the incident.
In an email, GHF criticised Gazan health officials, accusing them of regularly releasing inaccurate information. It said Palestinians do not access the nearby GHF site via the Netzarim corridor, but it did not address questions about whether it was aware that such an incident had occurred.
Thirty-nine people were killed, meanwhile, in separate Israeli air strikes in the northern Gaza Strip, medics said. One of those strikes killed at least 19 people, including women and children, in a tent in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, they added.
[
Gaza's last hospitals battle to save patients amid severe depletion of life-saving medical items
Opens in new window
]
Another strike killed at least 14 people and damaged several houses in Jabalia, in the north of the enclave, medics said.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army on those attacks.
In recent days, the Israeli military said its forces had opened fire and used warning shots to disperse people who it said posed a threat when approaching areas where troops were operating. It said it was reviewing reports of civilian casualties.
Israel has been channelling much of the aid it is now allowing into Gaza through the GHF, which operates a handful of distribution sites in areas guarded by Israeli forces.
A plume of smoke billows in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip after an Israeli air strike on Thursday. Photograph: Omar Al-Qattaa/AFP via Getty Images
The Gaza health ministry says hundreds of Palestinians have been killed trying to reach GHF sites since late May.
The UN rejects the GHF delivery system as inadequate, dangerous and a violation of humanitarian impartiality rules. Israel says it is needed to prevent Hamas fighters from diverting aid, an allegation Hamas denies.
The GHF said in a statement on Wednesday that it had distributed three million meals across three of its aid sites without incident.
The Gaza war was triggered when Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7th, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
[
I showed my friends in Israel this photo of a starving baby in Gaza and asked them if they knew
Opens in new window
]
Israel's subsequent military assault on Gaza has killed nearly 55,600 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, while displacing almost the entire population of more than 2 million and causing a hunger crisis.
The Norwegian Refugee Council warned on Thursday that more than one million people were without adequate shelter, saying equipment such as tents and tarpaulins had been blocked by Israel from entering since March 1st.
Nawajha returned empty-handed on Wednesday from her journey to find food, flopping down exhausted on the dusty ground outside the tent in Gaza City where she has been sheltering with her family for the past 20 days.
They say they try to force their way into the distribution site when trucks carrying aid arrive, but are often outmuscled by men, who sometimes fight over sacks of flour coming off UN trucks.
'[When] there is no food, as you can see, children start crying and getting angry,' said Nawajha. 'When we are for three, four kilometres or more on our legs ... Oh my ... our feet are bruised and our shoes are torn off.' – Reuters
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The Journal
43 minutes ago
- The Journal
Gaza's blackouts: 'You might be killed for trying to have internet access at public points'
Hana Salah Palestinian journalist GAZA HAS BEEN offline completely for days at a time over the past month. Between 12 and 14 June, there was a full blackout across the the Strip. It takes me back to October 2023 when Israel's bombardment began and I vanished from the digital world because of the targeting of the main lines providing Gaza telecommunication companies with the internet. In the face of repeated communication blackouts in Gaza, eSIM cards have become the only lifeline for many. On 12 June, the Palestinian Telecommunications Regulatory Authority confirmed that all internet and landline services had been cut across Gaza following Israeli strikes on telecom infrastructure — part of what it described as a 'systematic targeting' that has digitally isolated the territory. With traditional networks down, digital SIM cards — often purchased abroad and activated by scanning a QR code — allowed some residents to connect to foreign networks, mainly Israeli or Egyptian. These fragile connections became critical for staying in touch with relatives or reporting the war's realities to the outside world. Back to October 2023, the network collapsed within days. I could no longer check in with my UN manager to say I was still alive — part of a daily headcount we'd become accustomed to. I couldn't even share my GPS location as my family and I fled from one strike zone to the next, obeying shifting evacuation orders or sudden strikes. Each move cut us off from what little protection systems we had. At one point, my manager offered me a satellite phone. But in Gaza, carrying one could get you killed. At hospitals and checkpoints, such devices are seen with suspicion especially by Hamas agents or militants — because they are often assumed to be used by spies. I refused to hold it. Instead, I relied on an eSIM — a digital SIM card — my American friend Aideen had given me. It worked, sometimes. I'd climb rooftops or stairwells, searching for the faintest signal. Occasionally, I could send a message, file a report, or simply say: 'We are still here, alive or just send them a funny emoji amid the hell.' (The editor of The Journal was also a frequent receiver of these messages, gifs and emojis.) But the risk never went away. During blackouts, even holding a phone in the wrong place could invite suspicion — or worse. To access the internet in Rafah, before it was evacuated, a mobile phone equipped with an eSIM was placed on top of a wooden pole outside a tent. The phone's signal was shared via hotspot to connect the displaced family living nearby. Aideen Byrne, 29, an international law expert based in the United States and a close friend, has been part of a volunteer initiative called Crips for eSIMs for Gaza. The group has distributed hundreds of eSIMs to journalists and civilians across Gaza — a quiet but vital effort to keep people connected in the darkest of times. We moved to new shelter in Deir al-Balah in November 2023, where my family sheltered in the middle of the Strip and the internet was even more unstable. The higher you went, the better the chance of catching a signal using the Israeli eSIM. But our building's rooftop was locked. Advertisement One neighbour kindly shared access to their connection — an act of quiet generosity in a war defined by loss. Weeks later, that rooftop was hit. Two rockets tore through it and our neighbour who provided me with the internet line was killed with his family while my family survived. I had just returned from searching for food. As I walked back toward the building, I heard the blast. Smoke rose from where my family had been sheltering. For a moment, I collapsed. My knees buckled under the fear that they were gone. Seconds later, I ran inside — alongside others — to help pull out the wounded. Somehow, my family survived. The strike appeared to target the telecommunications and internet relay equipment on the rooftop — a setup similar to many across Gaza in the early days of the war. These makeshift signal poles were often assumed to be linked to Hamas infrastructure, and as a result, rooftop communication devices became. In Gaza, for every story I reported, there were others I couldn't get to. Others I couldn't write. Not because they weren't happening — but because we were buried beneath silence. Fears around Internet cafés My colleague, the veteran journalist in Gaza Fathi Sabbah, 65, and his family were able to get eSIMs from the same project. He said internet connectivity when the blackout is forced by Israel is not the only reason for using the eSIMs. He also uses them to access the internet in public places as other access points pose a risk. Sabbah told me, 'Some public internet access points or cafés may themselves become targets to the Israeli drones. You might be killed for trying to have internet access there. 'Even going to a café carries real risk to our lives,' he explains. 'Even if there's internet in public cafes, we often avoid these places because they could be targeted — either because someone wanted by Israel might be inside, or simply nearby. Many people have lost their lives just by being there, even though they were civilians. 'We have seen massacres in an internet connection point were people gather around each other to be connected online. No one knows who is with you, so better to get your own internet point in the new displacement area/Tent.' Ashraf Amra, 38, who is currently reporting from Al-Jazeera has been able to send some voice notes over WhatsApp. 'The situation is very difficult as we are disconnected from the world, and it is very risky to go higher buildings to get better connection for the eSIM,' he said. Drones are watching us and could doubt our use and target us.' Other non-journalist civilians developed the use of the eSIMs too – like my friend AlMaza, 29, who was living in a tent near the Philadelphi Corridor, close to the Egyptian border in Rafah. With no stable internet access, her family improvised. They mounted a phone containing an eSIM on a tall wooden pole outside their shelter to catch even the faintest signal. Using the phone's hotspot connected to a basic router, they were able to distribute a fragile but essential internet connection throughout the tent. The setup gave them a few hours of connectivity at a time. When the battery drained, they'd lower the phone to recharge it — sometimes using a power bank, sometimes swapping devices. It was a lifeline not just to the outside world, but to hope. Salah is a Palestinian journalist and war survivor who reports on economics, conflict and development. Displaced during the Israeli assault on Gaza, she is now based in the UK. Her work has appeared in the LA Times, Al Jazeera, Al-Monitor, Channel 4 and other international outlets. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
RTÉ News
5 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Violence against children hit 'unprecedented levels' in 2024
From Gaza to the Democratic Republic of Congo, violence against children in conflict zones reached "unprecedented levels" in 2024, a United Nations annual report said Thursday. "In 2024, violence against children in armed conflict reached unprecedented levels, with a staggering 25 percent surge in the number of grave violations in comparison with 2023," according to the report from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The report verified 41,370 grave violations against children in 2024 - including 36,221 committed in 2024 and 5,149 committed previously but confirmed in 2024 - the highest number since the monitoring tool was established nearly 30 years ago. The new high beats 2023, another record year, which represented a 21% increase over the preceding year. With more than 4,500 killed and 7,000 injured, children continue to bear "the brunt of relentless hostilities and indiscriminate attacks," the report said. There was also a marked increase in the number of child victims of multiple violations to 22,495. "The cries of 22,495 innocent children who should be learning to read or play ball - but instead have been forced to learn how to survive gunfire and bombings - should keep all of us awake at night," said Virginia Gamba, special representative of the UN secretary-general for children and armed conflict. "This must serve as a wake-up call. We are at the point of no return." In its annual report, the UN compiles violations of the rights of children, those aged under 18, in some 20 conflict zones around the world. In its appendix, a "list of shame" calls out those responsible for these violations - a powerful coalition of Haitian gangs was added this year - which include child killings and mutilations, recruitment to violence, kidnappings, denial of humanitarian aid and sexual violence. The Israeli armed forces, which were named last year along with Palestinian militant group Hamas, remain on the list. Conflict casualties The Palestinian territories occupy the top spot in the dismal rankings, with more than 8,500 serious violations, the vast majority attributed to Israeli forces, including more than 4,800 in Gaza. This figure includes confirmation of 1,259 Palestinian children killed in Gaza, and the UN notes it is currently verifying information on an additional 4,470 children killed in 2024 in the war-torn territory. The report also calls out Israel's military operations in Lebanon, where more than 500 children were killed or injured last year. Following the Palestinian territories, the countries where the UN recorded the most violence against children in 2024 are: the Democratic Republic of the Congo (more than 4,000 grave violations), Somalia (more than 2,500), Nigeria (nearly 2,500), and Haiti (more than 2,200). "List of shame" inductees include Haitian gang coalition "Viv Ansanm," blamed for a 490 percent increase in violations, including child recruitment, murders and gang rapes. Another addition to the list is Colombian drug cartel Clan del Golfo, which is accused of child recruitment. Colombia in general recorded a significant increase in cases of forced recruitment, with 450 children in 2024 compared to 262 the previous year. Remaining on the list are the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which have been fighting in Sudan for more than two years. Also listed again is the Russian army for its actions in Ukraine, where the report records a 105 percent increase in serious violations between 2023 and 2024.
Irish Times
16 hours ago
- Irish Times
‘We are being slaughtered': Gazans risk their lives on desperate journeys for food
Like thousands of other Palestinians in Gaza , Hind Al-Nawajha takes a dangerous, miles-long journey every day to try to get some food for her family, hoping she makes it back alive. Accompanied by her sister, Mazouza, the mother of four ducked down and hid behind a pile of rubble on the roadside as gunshots echoed nearby. 'You either come back carrying [food] for your children and they will be happy, or you come back in a shroud, or you go back upset [without food] and your children will cry,' said the 38-year-old, a resident of Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza. 'This is life, we are being slaughtered, we can't do it any more.' READ MORE In the past two days, dozens of Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire as they tried to get food from aid trucks brought into the enclave by the United Nations (UN) and international relief agencies, Gaza-based medics said. On Thursday, medics said at least 51 people were killed by Israeli gunfire and military strikes, including 12 people who tried to approach a site operated by the US - and Israeli -backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in the central Gaza Strip, the latest in near-daily reports of people being killed while seeking food. Palestinian children gather at a hot meal distribution point in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip. Photograph: Eyad Baba/AFP via Getty Images The Israeli military said there were several attempts by 'suspects' to approach its forces in the Netzarim area in the central Gaza Strip in a manner that endangered them. It said forces fired warning shots to prevent suspects from approaching them and it was currently unaware of injuries in the incident. In an email, GHF criticised Gazan health officials, accusing them of regularly releasing inaccurate information. It said Palestinians do not access the nearby GHF site via the Netzarim corridor, but it did not address questions about whether it was aware that such an incident had occurred. Thirty-nine people were killed, meanwhile, in separate Israeli air strikes in the northern Gaza Strip, medics said. One of those strikes killed at least 19 people, including women and children, in a tent in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, they added. [ Gaza's last hospitals battle to save patients amid severe depletion of life-saving medical items Opens in new window ] Another strike killed at least 14 people and damaged several houses in Jabalia, in the north of the enclave, medics said. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army on those attacks. In recent days, the Israeli military said its forces had opened fire and used warning shots to disperse people who it said posed a threat when approaching areas where troops were operating. It said it was reviewing reports of civilian casualties. Israel has been channelling much of the aid it is now allowing into Gaza through the GHF, which operates a handful of distribution sites in areas guarded by Israeli forces. A plume of smoke billows in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip after an Israeli air strike on Thursday. Photograph: Omar Al-Qattaa/AFP via Getty Images The Gaza health ministry says hundreds of Palestinians have been killed trying to reach GHF sites since late May. The UN rejects the GHF delivery system as inadequate, dangerous and a violation of humanitarian impartiality rules. Israel says it is needed to prevent Hamas fighters from diverting aid, an allegation Hamas denies. The GHF said in a statement on Wednesday that it had distributed three million meals across three of its aid sites without incident. The Gaza war was triggered when Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7th, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. [ I showed my friends in Israel this photo of a starving baby in Gaza and asked them if they knew Opens in new window ] Israel's subsequent military assault on Gaza has killed nearly 55,600 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, while displacing almost the entire population of more than 2 million and causing a hunger crisis. The Norwegian Refugee Council warned on Thursday that more than one million people were without adequate shelter, saying equipment such as tents and tarpaulins had been blocked by Israel from entering since March 1st. Nawajha returned empty-handed on Wednesday from her journey to find food, flopping down exhausted on the dusty ground outside the tent in Gaza City where she has been sheltering with her family for the past 20 days. They say they try to force their way into the distribution site when trucks carrying aid arrive, but are often outmuscled by men, who sometimes fight over sacks of flour coming off UN trucks. '[When] there is no food, as you can see, children start crying and getting angry,' said Nawajha. 'When we are for three, four kilometres or more on our legs ... Oh my ... our feet are bruised and our shoes are torn off.' – Reuters
