Latest news with #MervatHijazi
Ya Libnan
24-05-2025
- General
- Ya Libnan
Diary of a Gazan family's descent toward starvation
Palestinian woman, Mervat Hijazi, washes clothes inside the tent they took shelter after being displaced, in Gaza City, May 22, 2025. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa CAIRO/GAZA CITY – Mervat Hijazi and her nine children didn't eat at all on Thursday – save her underweight baby who had a sachet of peanut paste. 'I'm so ashamed of myself for not being able to feed my children,' Hijazi told Reuters from their tent pitched amid the rubble of Gaza City. 'I cry at night when my baby cries and her stomach aches from hunger.' Six-year-old Zaha can't sleep because of Israel's bombardment. 'She wakes up terrified, shaking, and then remembers she didn't eat and is hungry. I put her back to sleep, promising her food in the morning. Of course I lie.' Hijazi, 38, recounted a terrible week. Sunday, May 18: Her family was given about half a kilo of cooked lentils from a community kitchen run by a charity, half the amount she would normally use for a single meal. Monday: A local aid group was distributing some vegetables in the camp but there wasn't enough to go around and Hijazi's family didn't get any. Her 14-year-old daughter Menna went to the community kitchen and came back with a meagre amount of cooked potato. Everyone was hungry so they filled up by drinking water. Tuesday: The family received about half a kilo of cooked pasta from the kitchen. One daughter was also given some falafel by an uncle who lived nearby. Wednesday: A good day, relatively. They received a bowl of rice with lentils at the community kitchen. It wasn't nearly enough, but Menna went back and pleaded with them and they eventually gave her two other small dishes. 'She is tough and keeps crying at them until they give her.' Thursday: the kitchen was closed, the family couldn't find out why. They had nothing to eat except for the peanut sachet for 11-month-old Lama, received from a clinic as a nutritional supplement because baby milk formula has all but disappeared. 'I don't have enough milk in my breasts to feed her because I hardly eat myself,' said Hijazi, whose husband was killed early in the war as he cycled to get food from a charity kitchen. The Hijazis' plight is a snapshot of the misery plaguing the Palestinian enclave of Gaza. A global hunger monitor warned this month half a million people face starvation while famine looms. Israel has been bombarding and besieging Gaza since the territory's ruling group Hamas launched a surprise attack against Israeli border communities on October 7, 2023. The Hamas attack killed 1,200 people, according to Israel, while Gazan authorities say the ensuing Israeli offensive has killed more than 53,000 people. Israeli authorities have repeatedly said there is enough food in Gaza to feed the population and accuse Hamas of stealing aid in order to feed its fighters and to maintain control over the territory, an accusation the group denies. This week Israel started allowing some food to enter the territory for the first time since March 2, including flour and baby food but it says a new U.S.-sponsored system run by private contractors will begin operating soon. The plan will involve distribution centres in areas controlled by Israeli troops, a plan the U.N. and aid agencies have attacked, saying it will lead to further displacement of the population and that aid should flow through existing networks. Hijazi said her family had seen no sign yet of the new aid and she is consumed by worry for her baby, Lama, who was 5 kg when weighed last week. That's about half the average for a healthy one-year-old girl according to World Health Organization charts. This week the family have had, at most, a single meal a day to share, the mother added. U.N. aid chief Tom Fletcher said this week that the amount of aid Israel was proposing to allow into Gaza was 'a drop in the ocean' of what was needed. WE HAVE NO SAY IN THIS WAR The tent shared by Hijazi and her children is large and rectangular with a portrait of their dead husband and father Mohammed hanging on one side above a thin mattress and some mostly empty jars and stacked plastic bowls. The family is from the Sabra district of Gaza City, in the north of the enclave, where Israel's first assault was concentrated. They decided to flee the district on the day Mohammed was killed – November 17, 2023. They went south to the central Gazan area of Deir al-Balah, first staying with family and then moving to an encampment for the displaced. They returned to Gaza City after a ceasefire was agreed in January, but their home had been damaged and they are now living in a camp for the displaced. Hunger makes them all listless, Hijazi said, and they often lack enough energy even to clean their tent. When Reuters visited, some of the children lay sprawled silent on the floor. But they still have jobs to do. Menna is often sent to queue at the food kitchen. She arrives more than an hour before it opens, knowing that otherwise she would stand no chance of getting food and often waits another hour before she is served, Hijazi said. On days when a tanker does not bring water to their part of the camp, Mustafa, 15, and Ali, 13, have to walk to a standpipe in another district and lug heavy plastic jerrycans back to the tent – a chore made harder by their hunger. Everyone remembers life before the war and they talk about the meals they used to enjoy. Mohammed Hijazi was a plumber and earned a good wage. 'People used to envy us for the variety of food we had,' his wife said, recalling breakfasts of eggs, beans, falafel, cheese, yoghurt and bread, and lunches and dinners of meat, rice, chicken and vegetables. Her 16-year-old daughter Malik talked about burgers, chocolate and Coca-Cola. 'We are civilians. We have no say in this war. All we want is for the war to end,' Hijazi said. 'We want to go back to live in homes – real homes. We want to sleep with full stomachs and in peace, not scared of dying while we sleep.' Reuters
Observer
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Observer
Gazans descend toward famine amid aid shortage
GAZA: Israel has been bombarding and besieging Gaza since the territory's ruling group Hamas launched a surprise attack against Israeli border communities on October 7, 2023. The Hamas attack killed 1,200 people, according to Israel, while Gazan authorities say the ensuing Israeli offensive has killed more than 53,000 people. Israeli authorities have repeatedly said there is enough food in Gaza to feed the population and accuse Hamas of stealing aid in order to feed its fighters and to maintain control over the territory, an accusation the group denies. This week Israel started allowing some food to enter the territory for the first time since March 2, including flour and baby food but it says a new US-sponsored system run by private contractors will begin operating soon. The plan will involve distribution centres in areas controlled by Israeli troops, a plan the U.N. and aid agencies have attacked, saying it will lead to further displacement of the population and that aid should flow through existing networks. Mervat Hijazi said her family had seen no sign yet of the new aid and she is consumed by worry for her baby, Lama, who was 5 kg when weighed last week. That's about half the average for a healthy one-year-old girl according to World Health Organization charts. This week the family have had, at most, a single meal a day to share, the mother added. UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said this week that the amount of aid Israel was proposing to allow into Gaza was "a drop in the ocean" of what was needed. The tent shared by Hijazi and her children is large and rectangular with a portrait of their dead husband and father Mohammed hanging on one side above a thin mattress and some mostly empty jars and stacked plastic bowls. The family is from the Sabra district of Gaza City, in the north of the enclave, where Israel's first assault was concentrated. They decided to flee the district on the day Mohammed was killed - November 17, 2023. They went south to the central Gazan area of Deir al Balah, first staying with family and then moving to an encampment for the displaced. Israeli air strikes killed at least six Palestinians guarding aid trucks against looters, Hamas officials said, as the head of the United Nations warned that only a "teaspoon" of aid was getting in following Israel's 11-week-long blockade. The Israeli military said 107 trucks carrying flour and other foodstuffs as well as medical supplies entered the Gaza Strip from the Kerem Shalom crossing point on Thursday, for a total of 305 since Monday when the blockade was relaxed. But getting the supplies to people sheltering in tents and other makeshift accommodation has been fitful and UN officials say at least 500 to 600 trucks of aid are needed every day. So far, an umbrella network of Palestinian aid groups said, 119 aid trucks have got past the Kerem Shalom crossing point and into Gaza since Israel eased its blockade on Monday in the face of an international outcry. The UN World Food Programme said 15 trucks carrying flour to WFP-supported bakeries had been looted, which it said reflected the dire conditions facing Gazans. "Hunger, desperation and anxiety over whether more food aid is coming is contributing to rising insecurity," it said in a statement. A Hamas official said six members of a security team tasked with guarding the shipments were killed. Israel imposed the blockade in early March, accusing Hamas of stealing aid meant for civilians. Hamas rejects the charge, saying a number of its own fighters have been killed protecting the trucks from armed looters. With most of Gaza's 2 million population squeezed into an ever narrowing zone on the coast and in the area around the southern city of Khan Yunis by Israel's military operation, international pressure to get aid in quickly has ratcheted up. "Without rapid, reliable, safe and sustained aid access, more people will die - and the long-term consequences on the entire population will be profound," said UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. — Reuters
News18
24-05-2025
- General
- News18
'We Want Peace And Food': A Gazan Mother's War Against Starvation To Feed Her Children
Published By : AFP Last Updated: Starvation is spreading in Gaza. For Mervat Hijazi, keeping her children alive has become a daily act of resilience and despair. Mervat Hijazi and her nine children didn't eat at all on Thursday – save her underweight baby who had a sachet of peanut paste. 'I'm so ashamed of myself for not being able to feed my children," Hijazi told Reuters from their tent pitched amid the rubble of Gaza City. 'I cry at night when my baby cries and her stomach aches from hunger." Six-year-old Zaha can't sleep because of Israel's bombardment. 'She wakes up terrified, shaking, and then remembers she didn't eat and is hungry. I put her back to sleep, promising her food in the morning. Of course I lie." Hijazi, 38, recounted a terrible week. Sunday, May 18: Her family was given about half a kilo of cooked lentils from a community kitchen run by a charity, half the amount she would normally use for a single meal. Monday: A local aid group was distributing some vegetables in the camp but there wasn't enough to go round and Hijazi's family didn't get any. Her 14-year-old daughter Menna went to the community kitchen and came back with a meagre amount of cooked potato. Everyone was hungry so they filled up by drinking water. Tuesday: The family received about half a kilo of cooked pasta from the kitchen. One daughter was also given some falafel by an uncle who lived nearby. Wednesday: A good day, relatively. They received a bowl of rice with lentils at the community kitchen. It wasn't nearly enough, but Menna went back and pleaded with them and they eventually gave her two other small dishes. 'She is tough and keeps crying at them until they give her." 'I don't have enough milk in my breasts to feed her because I hardly eat myself," said Hijazi, whose husband was killed early in the war as he cycled to get food from a charity kitchen. The Hijazis' plight is a snapshot of the misery plaguing the Palestinian enclave of Gaza. A global hunger monitor warned this month half a million people face starvation while famine looms. Israel has been bombarding and besieging Gaza since the territory's ruling group Hamas launched a surprise attack against Israeli border communities on October 7, 2023. The Hamas attack killed 1,200 people, according to Israel, while Gazan authorities say the ensuing Israeli offensive has killed more than 53,000 people. Israeli authorities have repeatedly said there is enough food in Gaza to feed the population and accuse Hamas of stealing aid in order to feed its fighters and to maintain control over the territory, an accusation the group denies. This week Israel started allowing some food to enter the territory for the first time since March 2, including flour and baby food but it says a new U.S.-sponsored system run by private contractors will begin operating soon. The plan will involve distribution centres in areas controlled by Israeli troops, a plan the U.N. and aid agencies have attacked, saying it will lead to further displacement of the population and that aid should flow through existing networks. Hijazi said her family had seen no sign yet of the new aid and she is consumed by worry for her baby, Lama, who was 5 kg when weighed last week. That's about half the average for a healthy one-year-old girl according to World Health Organization charts. This week the family have had, at most, a single meal a day to share, the mother added. UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said this week that the amount of aid Israel was proposing to allow into Gaza was 'a drop in the ocean" of what was needed. WE HAVE NO SAY IN THIS WAR The tent shared by Hijazi and her children is large and rectangular with a portrait of their dead husband and father Mohammed hanging on one side above a thin mattress and some mostly empty jars and stacked plastic bowls. The family is from the Sabra district of Gaza City, in the north of the enclave, where Israel's first assault was concentrated. They decided to flee the district on the day Mohammed was killed – November 17, 2023. They went south to the central Gazan area of Deir al-Balah, first staying with family and then moving to an encampment for the displaced. They returned to Gaza City after a ceasefire was agreed in January, but their home had been damaged and they are now living in a camp for the displaced. Hunger makes them all listless, Hijazi said, and they often lack enough energy even to clean their tent. When Reuters visited, some of the children lay sprawled silent on the floor. But they still have jobs to do. Menna is often sent to queue at the food kitchen. She arrives more than an hour before it opens, knowing that otherwise she would stand no chance of getting food and often waits another hour before she is served, Hijazi said. On days when a tanker does not bring water to their part of the camp, Mustafa, 15, and Ali, 13, have to walk to a standpipe in another district and lug heavy plastic jerrycans back to the tent – a chore made harder by their hunger. Everyone remembers life before the war and they talk about the meals they used to enjoy. Mohammed Hijazi was a plumber and earned a good wage. 'People used to envy us for the variety of food we had," his wife said, recalling breakfasts of eggs, beans, falafel, cheese, yoghurt and bread, and lunches and dinners of meat, rice, chicken and vegetables. Her 16-year-old daughter Malik talked about burgers, chocolate and Coca-Cola. 'We are civilians. We have no say in this war. All we want is for the war to end," Hijazi said. 'We want to go back to live in homes – real homes. We want to sleep with full stomachs and in peace, not scared of dying while we sleep." (This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed - AFP) Watch India Pakistan Breaking News on CNN-News18. Get breaking news, in-depth analysis, and expert perspectives on everything from geopolitics to diplomacy and global trends. Stay informed with the latest world news only on News18. Download the News18 App to stay updated! tags : Gaza Strip Israel-Palestine Location : Gaza/Cairo City First Published: May 24, 2025, 16:02 IST News world 'We Want Peace And Food': A Gazan Mother's War Against Starvation To Feed Her Children
Al Arabiya
24-05-2025
- General
- Al Arabiya
A family in Gaza descends toward starvation as Israel continues bombardment
Mervat Hijazi and her nine children didn't eat at all on Thursday - save her underweight baby who had a sachet of peanut paste. 'I'm so ashamed of myself for not being able to feed my children,' Hijazi told Reuters from their tent pitched amid the rubble of Gaza City. 'I cry at night when my baby cries and her stomach aches from hunger.' Six-year-old Zaha can't sleep because of Israel's bombardment. 'She wakes up terrified, shaking, and then remembers she didn't eat and is hungry. I put her back to sleep, promising her food in the morning. Of course I lie.' Hijazi, 38, recounted a terrible week. Sunday, May 18: Her family was given about half a kilo of cooked lentils from a community kitchen run by a charity, half the amount she would normally use for a single meal. Monday: A local aid group was distributing some vegetables in the camp but there wasn't enough to go round and Hijazi's family didn't get any. Her 14-year-old daughter Menna went to the community kitchen and came back with a meagre amount of cooked potato. Everyone was hungry so they filled up by drinking water. Tuesday: The family received about half a kilo of cooked pasta from the kitchen. One daughter was also given some falafel by an uncle who lived nearby. Wednesday: A good day, relatively. They received a bowl of rice with lentils at the community kitchen. It wasn't nearly enough, but Menna went back and pleaded with them and they eventually gave her two other small dishes. 'She is tough and keeps crying at them until they give her.' Thursday: the kitchen was closed, the family couldn't find out why. They had nothing to eat except for the peanut sachet for 11-month-old Lama, received from a clinic as a nutritional supplement because baby milk formula has all but disappeared. 'I don't have enough milk in my breasts to feed her because I hardly eat myself,' said Hijazi, whose husband was killed early in the war as he cycled to get food from a charity kitchen. The Hijazis' plight is a snapshot of the misery plaguing the Palestinian enclave of Gaza. A global hunger monitor warned this month half a million people face starvation while famine looms. Israel has been bombarding and besieging Gaza since the territory's ruling group Hamas launched a surprise attack against Israeli border communities on October 7, 2023. The Hamas attack killed 1,200 people, according to Israel, while Gazan authorities say the ensuing Israeli offensive has killed more than 53,000 people. Israeli authorities have repeatedly said there is enough food in Gaza to feed the population and accuse Hamas of stealing aid in order to feed its fighters and to maintain control over the territory, an accusation the group denies. This week Israel started allowing some food to enter the territory for the first time since March 2, including flour and baby food but it says a new US-sponsored system run by private contractors will begin operating soon. The plan will involve distribution centers in areas controlled by Israeli troops, a plan the UN and aid agencies have attacked, saying it will lead to further displacement of the population and that aid should flow through existing networks. Hijazi said her family had seen no sign yet of the new aid and she is consumed by worry for her baby, Lama, who was 5 kg when weighed last week. That's about half the average for a healthy one-year-old girl according to World Health Organization charts. This week the family have had, at most, a single meal a day to share, the mother added. UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said this week that the amount of aid Israel was proposing to allow into Gaza was 'a drop in the ocean' of what was needed. We have no say in this war The tent shared by Hijazi and her children is large and rectangular with a portrait of their dead husband and father Mohammed hanging on one side above a thin mattress and some mostly empty jars and stacked plastic bowls. The family is from the Sabra district of Gaza City, in the north of the enclave, where Israel's first assault was concentrated. They decided to flee the district on the day Mohammed was killed - November 17, 2023. They went south to the central Gazan area of Deir al-Balah, first staying with family and then moving to an encampment for the displaced. They returned to Gaza City after a ceasefire was agreed in January, but their home had been damaged and they are now living in a camp for the displaced. Hunger makes them all listless, Hijazi said, and they often lack enough energy even to clean their tent. When Reuters visited, some of the children lay sprawled silent on the floor. But they still have jobs to do. Menna is often sent to queue at the food kitchen. She arrives more than an hour before it opens, knowing that otherwise she would stand no chance of getting food and often waits another hour before she is served, Hijazi said. On days when a tanker does not bring water to their part of the camp, Mustafa, 15, and Ali, 13, have to walk to a standpipe in another district and lug heavy plastic jerrycans back to the tent - a chore made harder by their hunger. Everyone remembers life before the war and they talk about the meals they used to enjoy. Mohammed Hijazi was a plumber and earned a good wage. 'People used to envy us for the variety of food we had,' his wife said, recalling breakfasts of eggs, beans, falafel, cheese, yoghurt and bread, and lunches and dinners of meat, rice, chicken and vegetables. Her 16-year-old daughter Malik talked about burgers, chocolate and Coca-Cola. 'We are civilians. We have no say in this war. All we want is for the war to end,' Hijazi said. 'We want to go back to live in homes - real homes. We want to sleep with full stomachs and in peace, not scared of dying while we sleep.'
Japan Times
24-05-2025
- General
- Japan Times
Diary of a Gazan family's descent toward starvation
Mervat Hijazi and her nine children didn't eat at all on Thursday — save her underweight baby who had a sachet of peanut paste. "I'm so ashamed of myself for not being able to feed my children," Hijazi said from their tent pitched amid the rubble of Gaza City. "I cry at night when my baby cries and her stomach aches from hunger." Six-year-old Zaha can't sleep because of Israel's bombardment. "She wakes up terrified, shaking, and then remembers she didn't eat and is hungry. I put her back to sleep, promising her food in the morning. Of course I lie." Hijazi, 38, recounted a terrible week. Sunday, May 18: Her family was given about half a kilo of cooked lentils from a community kitchen run by a charity, half the amount she would normally use for a single meal. Monday: A local aid group was distributing some vegetables in the camp but there wasn't enough to go round and Hijazi's family didn't get any. Her 14-year-old daughter Menna went to the community kitchen and came back with a meager amount of cooked potato. Everyone was hungry so they filled up by drinking water. A Palestinian girl feeds her sister inside their tent in Gaza City. | REUTERS Tuesday: The family received about half a kilo of cooked pasta from the kitchen. One daughter was also given some falafel by an uncle who lived nearby. Wednesday: A good day, relatively. They received a bowl of rice with lentils at the community kitchen. It wasn't nearly enough, but Menna went back and pleaded with them and they eventually gave her two other small dishes. "She is tough and keeps crying at them until they give her." Thursday: the kitchen was closed, the family couldn't find out why. They had nothing to eat except for the peanut sachet for 11-month-old Lama, received from a clinic as a nutritional supplement because baby milk formula has all but disappeared. "I don't have enough milk in my breasts to feed her because I hardly eat myself," said Hijazi, whose husband was killed early in the war as he cycled to get food from a charity kitchen. The Hijazis' plight is a snapshot of the misery plaguing the Palestinian enclave of Gaza. A global hunger monitor warned this month that half a million people face starvation while famine looms. Israel has been bombarding and besieging Gaza since the territory's ruling group Hamas launched a surprise attack against Israeli border communities on Oct. 7, 2023. The Hamas attack killed 1,200 people, according to Israel, while Gazan authorities say the ensuing Israeli offensive has killed more than 53,000 people. A Palestinian woman holds a metal bowl of food as she stands in front of her tent in Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip. | REUTERS Israeli authorities have repeatedly said there is enough food in Gaza to feed the population and accuse Hamas of stealing aid in order to feed its fighters and to maintain control over the territory, an accusation the group denies. This week Israel started allowing some food to enter the territory for the first time since March 2, including flour and baby food but it says a new U.S.-sponsored system run by private contractors will begin operating soon. The plan will involve distribution centers in areas controlled by Israeli troops, a plan the U.N. and aid agencies have attacked, saying it will lead to further displacement of the population and that aid should flow through existing networks. Hijazi said her family had seen no sign yet of the new aid and she is consumed by worry for her baby, Lama, who was 5 kg when weighed last week. That's about half the average for a healthy one-year-old girl according to World Health Organization charts. This week the family have had, at most, a single meal a day to share, the mother added. U.N. aid chief Tom Fletcher said this week that the amount of aid Israel was proposing to allow into Gaza was "a drop in the ocean" of what was needed. The tent shared by Hijazi and her children is large and rectangular with a portrait of their dead husband and father Mohammed hanging on one side above a thin mattress and some mostly empty jars and stacked plastic bowls. A woman eats with her grandchildren in front of their tent in Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip. | REUTERS The family is from the Sabra district of Gaza City, in the north of the enclave, where Israel's first assault was concentrated. They decided to flee the district on the day Mohammed was killed — Nov. 17, 2023. They went south to the central Gazan area of Deir al-Balah, first staying with family and then moving to an encampment for the displaced. They returned to Gaza City after a ceasefire was agreed in January, but their home had been damaged and they are now living in a camp for the displaced. Hunger makes them all listless, Hijazi said, and they often lack enough energy even to clean their tent. When Reuters visited, some of the children lay sprawled silent on the floor. But they still have jobs to do. Menna is often sent to queue at the food kitchen. She arrives more than an hour before it opens, knowing that otherwise she would stand no chance of getting food and often waits another hour before she is served, Hijazi said. On days when a tanker does not bring water to their part of the camp, Mustafa, 15, and Ali, 13, have to walk to a standpipe in another district and lug heavy plastic jerrycans back to the tent — a chore made harder by their hunger. Everyone remembers life before the war and they talk about the meals they used to enjoy. Mohammed Hijazi was a plumber and earned a good wage. "People used to envy us for the variety of food we had," his wife said, recalling breakfasts of eggs, beans, falafel, cheese, yogurt and bread, and lunches and dinners of meat, rice, chicken and vegetables. Her 16-year-old daughter Malik talked about burgers, chocolate and Coca-Cola. "We are civilians. We have no say in this war. All we want is for the war to end," Hijazi said. "We want to go back to live in homes — real homes. We want to sleep with full stomachs and in peace, not scared of dying while we sleep."
