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Yahoo
19-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
$25 Butter and $40 Eggs: The Search for Food in Gaza
Vegetables for sale at a market in Jabaliya, northern Gaza Strip, April 23, 2025. Israel blocked food and fuel deliveries in March, and aid agencies say they are running out of supplies. Credit - Saher Alghorra—The New York Times/Redux When Reham Alkahlout, a mother of four, scours the markets in Al-Nasr, Gaza, she is gripped by a gnawing anxiety spurred by rows of scarce stalls, the acrid scent of burnt wood and plastic, and a scattering of overpriced essentials—if any are available at all. Once vibrant with produce and daily bustle, markets have been hollowed out by months of siege, bombardment, and economic collapse. Since Israeli forces resumed offensive operations on March 18, the price of flour has climbed by 5,000 percent, residents say, and cooking oil by 1,200 percent. 'No one can afford to buy,' says Alkahlout, 33, a psychological counselor working at a school housing the displaced. 'Sometimes we are forced to purchase small amounts just to feed our children.'Famine, which has loomed over the enclave for much of the 19-month war, is now imminent, according to international aid groups. The groups, led by the U.N., base their assessment on a complex formula known as the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification. The most recent report, released May 12, found the whole of Gaza qualified as an 'Emergency,' or at critical risk of famine. Some 470,000 residents (22 percent) had reached 'Catastrophe,' defined as 'starvation, death, destitution and extremely critical acute malnutrition levels.'Food prices tell the same story of scarcity. Residents of Gaza's north say a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of rice that cost $3 in February is now $10. A cucumber costs 7 times more. Baby formula has quadrupled and the price of a can of peas is up 1,000 percent. Some items, like fruit and chicken, simply cannot be obtained. Israel controls what enters the Strip, and imposed a total blockade on aid on March 2 with the collapse of a two-month ceasefire. The New York Times reported on May 13 that specialists in the Israeli military share the assessment of aid groups that starvation has become an immediate danger.' The first symptom of hunger is pain,' says Dr. John Kahler, who worked in Gaza last year as co-founder of MedGlobal, a Chicago-based NGO that provides emergency response and health programs to vulnerable communities. 'And that pain doesn't go away. It isn't like it gets better or you forget it.' Civilians interviewed by TIME from Gaza described an increasingly desperate search for basic necessities. Alwaheidi, who resides in Sheikh Redwan near Gaza City, fears the possibility that, any day now, she may be unable to provide for her children. Nineteen months of war, triggered by the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks that killed approximately 1,200 people inside Israel and took some 250 captive, has resulted in over 50,000 Palestinian deaths and the destruction of much of Gaza—including the systems that fed residents during previous wars. Community kitchens in Gaza, once a critical safety net for thousands of families, have been decimated. The communal spaces offer a hub for volunteers to prepare and distribute free meals, but only a fraction remain operational, leaving massive gaps in emergency food provision. With cooking gas prices increasing by 2,400% and flour by over 5,600%, according to residents, the facilities can no longer prepare food at scale. 'The whole concept of community kitchens that we started during the war is almost entirely going to shut down because there are no supplies anymore,' says Juliette Touma, director of communications for UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East). 'The prices of everything have increased massively.' World Central Kitchen (WCK), a nonprofit that provides meals to communities impacted by disasters and humanitarian crises, on May 7 announced it was forced to halt cooking in Gaza. 'The borders need to open for World Central Kitchen to be able to feed people in need,' said WCK Gaza response director Wadhah Hubaishi. 'If given full access to our infrastructure, partnerships, and incoming supplies, we are capable of providing hungry families in Gaza with 500,000 meals a day.' Thousands of aid trucks wait at the Gaza border, blocked by Israel, which maintains that Hamas—governing the enclave since its 2007 election win—is diverting much of the aid. 'During the war, Israel allowed humanitarian aid to flow into Gaza, and facilitated it,' said Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar in a statement. 'But Hamas stole that aid from the people and earned its money from it.' Residents say they fear looting, which tends to worsen with shortages. 'About a week ago, vegetable shops in the Al-Nasr, Al-Shati, and Sheikh Radwan areas were robbed,' says Reham Alkahlout, a mother and resident of Al-Nasr, also in Gaza's north. 'How can a family breadwinner meet the family's needs when there is no monthly income? Some people resort to theft,' she says. The Associated Press reported that both armed groups and civilians have participated in looting aid warehouses and shops in northern Gaza. Hamas has acknowledged executing individuals accused of looting and announced a 5,000-member force to combat armed criminals. UNRWA's main complex in Gaza has been targeted by looters, as have markets and community kitchens. 'We've seen individual looters. We've also seen organized crime, and we've lost quite a lot of aid that was taken by the looters,' says Touma, the spokesperson. 'At the same time, when the ceasefire started and we started seeing more aid coming in, the looting decreased significantly.' The impact of Gaza's food shortages falls with particular severity on pregnant women and children. Since the aid blockade began in March, 57 children have reportedly died from the effects of malnutrition, according to the Hamas-controlled Palestinian Health Ministry. A malnourished mother struggles to produce nutritious breast milk. Their diets are extremely limited, consisting mainly of whatever sparse rations they can obtain, often lacking the 'very, very specific protein and micronutrients and vitamins for their children to thrive,' says Kahler of MedGlobal, which has two nutrition centers still open, supplying caloric dense food to infants to mothers. 'Most of these surviving women and children haven't had a real night's sleep in over 18 months. The accumulated effects of sleep deprivation on decision making and metabolic disease are enormous.'The same reality confronts every family. 'We go to sleep every day fearing that we will lose a member of our family,' says Alwaheidi. 'And we do not know how long we will be able to provide food for our children.' Contact us at letters@
Time of India
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Hamas official says group open to freeing hostages, five-year truce in Gaza
FILE -- A show of force during a public hostage handover ceremony staged by Hamas in Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, Feb. 22, 2025. (Saher Alghorra/The New York Times) Hamas has proposed a comprehensive agreement to end the Gaza conflict, involving the release of all remaining hostages in exchange for a five-year cessation of hostilities. This proposal comes as a Hamas delegation prepares to meet with mediators in Cairo. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Hamas is open to an agreement to end the Gaza war that would include the one-time release of all remaining hostages and a five-year cessation of hostilities, an official from the Palestinian group said Saturday."Hamas is ready for an exchange of prisoners in a single batch and a truce for five years," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity, as a delegation from his group was set to meet mediators in Cairo later in the April 17, Hamas, which opposes a "partial" ceasefire agreement, rejected an Israeli proposal that included a 45-day truce in exchange for the return of 10 living group has consistently demanded that a truce agreement must lead to the end of the war, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, a prisoner exchange , and the immediate and sufficient entry of humanitarian aid into the war-battered Palestinian for its part, demands the return of all hostages and the disarmament of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza -- the latter being a "red line" for the Islamist war was triggered by Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the death of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official the 251 people taken hostage that day, 58 are still being held in Gaza, including 34 who are dead, according to the Israeli army.A truce from January 19 to March 17 allowed the return of 33 hostages to Israel, including eight who were deceased, in exchange for the release of about 1,800 Palestinians from Israeli to figures published by the Hamas-run territory's health ministry, at least 2,062 Palestinians have been killed since the Israeli offensive resumed on March 18, bringing the total death toll in Gaza to 51,439 since the start of the war.
New York Times
24-03-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
After a Brief Return Home, Palestinians Are Displaced Once Again
As the Israeli military has expanded its offensive in the Gaza Strip, taking control of more territory in parts of the south and north and issuing new evacuation orders, many people who had only recently returned to their homes have been forcibly displaced once again. Israel's drive into the southern city of Rafah pushed thousands of families from the Tal al-Sultan neighborhood, near the border with Egypt, to flee on foot on Sunday before Israeli troops completely encircled the area by the afternoon. For many, the new round of mass displacement brought back painful memories of the earlier days of the war in Gaza. Residents of Tal al-Sultan and nearby areas said they had to walk on a specific route amid bombardment, carrying very few belongings, during the holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims fast during daytime. Most of those who fled on Sunday walked several miles north to the city of Khan Younis, where they were left without shelter because of a severe shortage of basic necessities and tents, the Rafah local government, which includes Tal al-Sultan, said in a statement. For many, the new round of mass displacement brought back painful memories of the earlier days of the war in Gaza. Credit... Saher Alghorra for The New York Times The Israeli military renewed its offensive in Gaza last week after an impasse in talks to extend a fragile, temporary cease-fire with Hamas that went into effect in mid-January. That truce was intended to be the first of three phases leading to the end of a war that began with the Hamas-led assault on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, but the second phrase has been delayed indefinitely. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
New York Times
20-03-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Friday Briefing: Hamas Targets Tel Aviv
Image Palestinians fled northern Gaza yesterday after the Israeli military issued warnings to evacuate homes. Credit... Saher Alghorra for The New York Times Hamas fired its first barrage of rockets in months into Israeli territory yesterday as Israeli troops expanded ground operations across Gaza. After the collapse of a two-month cease-fire, the fighting now looks as if it is escalating back to full-scale war. Despite street protests in Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected to fire the head of Shin Bet, the domestic intelligence agency. For some insight on the situation, I reached out to Patrick Kingsley, our Jerusalem bureau chief. Patrick: We are back in a familiar standoff. Israel's leadership wants both the safe return of Hamas's hostages, as well as Hamas's military defeat. But Hamas won't hand over the hostages without Israel's guaranteeing the group's survival in Gaza. And Israel can't defeat Hamas by force without harming many hostages. The cease-fire that collapsed this week was always likely to fall apart unless one of the sides softened its stance. But neither did. So Israel has returned to war in order to break Hamas's resolve by force. And that leaves things roughly where they were before the cease-fire began in January: in a deadlock. Do the protests in Israel feel more impactful this time? For now, Netanyahu doesn't seem swayed by the protesters calling for a new truce to save the hostages in Gaza. His biggest domestic priority is to pass a state budget by the end of the month. To do that, he needs the support of right-wing lawmakers, many of whom support the return to war and could abandon him if there's another truce. Is President Trump's Gaza plan still on the table? After proposing the expulsion of Gaza's population in January, Trump has said that the idea was only a recommendation and that no Palestinians would be expelled. His aides also said that it was less a definitive plan of action than an attempt to provoke Arab leaders into suggesting a viable alternative. Several Arab leaders, led by Egypt, did later propose their own plan for postwar Gaza — in which the territory would be governed by an apolitical committee as part of a Palestinian state. But the plan was vague, didn't explain how Hamas would cede power and was swiftly rejected by the Israeli government, which seeks to avoid discussion of Palestinian statehood. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
