Families in Gaza search 'piles of rubbish' to feed children as food shortage worsens, charities say

ITV News

04-05-2025

As Israel's blockade on supplies into Gaza enters it's third month, desperate scenes of hunger and need can be seen across the territory as ITV News' Ian Woods reports
Chronic food shortages due to Israel's blockade could add to the large number of Palestinians dying in Gaza, humanitarian charities said.
Oxfam and UNICEF said disease and malnutrition are now common place in Gaza as families search through "piles of rubbish" to feed their children.
The blockade of aid into Gaza is part of Israel's efforts to force Hamas to negotiate a ceasefire while 2.3 million people have been plunged into the worst humanitarian crisis of the war.
Since the start of the year more than 9,000 children have been treated for acute malnutrition, according to the UN.
Ghada Alhaddad from Oxfam based in Gaza said: "We've seen starvation used as a weapon of war, not only not allowing the aid into the Gaza strip but also destroying agriculture and land and destroying anyway for Palestinians trying to produce their own food."
She said the situation is getting "worse and worse by the day" since Israel shut the boarders two months ago.
"Almost nothing has entered the Gaza Strip. We've seen people, elderly, children, and all vulnerable communities in the Gaza Strip are starving because there is nothing in the market."
She said: "Essential food items like milk, eggs, fruits, dairies, protein sources like beef and the chicken have disappeared from the market" and most items are now "really, really expensive and it is beyond affordable."
Dr Yasser Abu Ghaly, who works in the pediatric department at Nasser Hospital, said: "The is no meat in the market no source of protein canned food is running out there's no nutrition at all even healthy children with no diseases are starting to come to us showing signs of lack of food, weakness, frailty and repeated gastric flu."
Ms Alhaddad explained how families, including herself, are rationing food and skipping meals.
Some families have resorted to looking through piles of rubble and rubbish to find anything to feed their children.
Tess Ingram, UNICEF spokesperson for the Middle east and North Africa, said: "Families are searching throughout the rubble of homes and buildings, on the street, through piles of rubbish to try and find food to eat, supplies to give their children."
"We're seeing rising cases of malnutrition among children, particularly young children."
"We've run out of the supplies that we give children to prevent malnutrition already, and these treatment supplies are almost out," she added.
"The places where children can go for treatment have diminished. We've gone from 200 treatment centres down to 120."
An 8-week ceasefire with the Hamas militant group allowed more aid into Gaza and freed some Israeli hostages, but it collapsed in March when Israel resumed strikes.
Israel says there should be enough food because supplies were allowed into Gaza during the ceasefire period earlier in the year.
In response Ms Alhaddad from Oxfam described the aid that came in during the pause in flighting as "a drop in an ocean of need."
"Most of the aid supplies that got into Gaza during the ceasefire didn't cover the minimum needs of Gaza's people.
"We are talking about two months without getting anything into the Gaza Strip. So it is catastrophic.
"Most humanitarian actors in the Gaza Strip have stated that their food and their aid has depleted. We at Oxfam distributed the last food parcel on April 20."
She described how water facilities had also been bombed so access to fresh water has become even more limited.
Ms Ingram from UNICEF said: "75% of families says water access has become harder in the last four weeks alone.
"They're really struggling to find safe water to drink and often having to resort to unsafe drinking water. This is causing a rise in disease."
She added: "We're now on day 62 of not a drop of grain, not a drop of water entering the Gaza Strip. And every day that that goes on, the less families have to eat, the less they have to drink and the more we will see suffering rise. Disease, malnutrition and death."
The situation is likely to get worst as Israel votes on whether to expand its fighting in Gaza.
On Sunday ahead of the cabinet vote, Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen launched a missile which landed near the international airport in Tel Aviv.
Four people were injured while flights and traffic were briefly halted as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Israel would respond to the attack.
Israeli airstrikes killed at least seven Palestinians, including parents and their children, ages 2 and 4, in southern and central Gaza, Palestinian medics said. The military had no comment.
Israel's offensive has killed more than 52,000 people in Gaza, many of them women and children, according to Palestinian health officials, who do not distinguish between combatants and civilians in their count.
The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages where 59 remain captive, Israel said.