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The Star
11-05-2025
- Politics
- The Star
‘We Gazans are dying every day'
NO words can better capture the reality in Gaza today than this: We are dying. Every day, in every imaginable way, we die. Death comes by missile, by gunshot, by collapsed building, by lack of medicine and by fear. And now, once again, it will come by hunger as Israel has closed off humanitarian supplies – with the agreement of not just the Trump administration but also the tacit support of the people of the United States and Europe who elected governments not committed to the rule of law and to stopping atrocities. Many are responsible for the small wasted bodies that will soon be seen again on Western television screens. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US president Donald Trump met again recently – from positions of power and comfort, deciding the fate of people they will never meet. In their decisions, Gaza's children are reduced to collateral. Mothers, fathers and whole families are figures on a chessboard, disposable. Our kitchens used to smell like home – warm spices, olive oil, bread baking in the early afternoon. Now they smell like nothing. Just metal cans and whatever dried goods we can scavenge. Stocks that were able to come in at scale during the ceasefire 'have practically run out,' according to John Whyte of the United Nations relief agency for Palestinians. For some six weeks, no aid has entered Gaza because of the ongoing Israeli blockade. The United Nations World Food Program said recently that it had run out of food in Gaza. More than 2.1 million people are trapped, bombed and starved. When we can eat, it is only to survive, not to be full. Not to feel joy. Children line up for charity meals holding out plastic containers. Mothers break down while trying to quiet their babies' hungry cries. Fathers stare at the ground, ashamed to be unable to provide for their families. We try to turn next to nothing into something, but even the imagination is tired. Fruit, vegetables, meat – these are memories now. In the past, even under siege, we shared what little we had. But this time is different. Our shelves are bare. How did it come to this? How did the world get to a place where the collective punishment of starvation is used as leverage to shape the terms of a ceasefire? This isn't a consequence of war. It's a strategy. A deliberate and systematic Israeli effort — with Western acceptance — to make hunger a form of control. A way to turn a people into a population too weakened to resist oppression. This is not rationing. It's removal. And still, we remember who we are. We remember 1948, when our grandparents were forced from their homes. We remember 1967, when we were uprooted again. In every chapter, we held onto the land, planted in its soil. But this time, Israel has taken the fields too. Israel has taken the water, the seeds and the hands that once tilled them. According to the human rights group Al-Haq, more than 70% of Gaza is now inaccessible to its residents, with reports indicating that Israel has seized more than 37% of the land. And yet, how would you know? I am told CNN rarely covers us anymore. The people of Gaza don't appear in breaking news alerts. We are made invisible by the editorial decisions of people who find our lives too political, too inconvenient – whose audiences have accepted our suffering as unremarkable. Have you seen a mother dividing a single piece of bread among five children? Have you heard of the child who died from scalding after being knocked into a pot of food as a crowd scrambled for one meal? The stories sound unreal, but they're not. Even my cat is starving, and I don't know how to help her. But some people can watch entire communities starve and feel nothing. The same nations that speak of human rights in news conferences remain silent when those rights are trampled in Gaza. Even when South Africa brought a genocide case to the International Court of Justice, the court responded carefully – not a judgment, but a request: Stop bombing civilians, let aid in. Even that was ignored. The bombs fell anyway. The aid was blocked. The request was drowned out by Israel's allies – France, Germany, the US – urging the court not to say the word 'genocide.' As if language could hide the bodies. This isn't just about Gaza. It's about the collapse of the very idea of justice. If the law bows to power, what is left for those without it? People must choose what kind of legacy they want to leave behind. Will it be one of silence in the face of starvation and Israeli abuses? Or one of courage, where justice is more than just rhetoric? We don't need pity. We don't need sympathy. We need rights. We need food. We need safety. A ceasefire is only the beginning. The siege, the apartheid, the multiple displacements – these are not footnotes. They are the story. And one day, when this is over – when the horror is fully brought to light – the world will be asked: How did you let this happen? — Los Angeles Times/TNS Nour Khalil Abu Shammala is a Palestinian trainee lawyer and human rights advocate based in Gaza City.
Los Angeles Times
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Out of food and under constant attack, we Gazans are dying every day
No words can better capture the reality in Gaza today than this: We are dying. Every day, in every imaginable way, we die. Death comes by missile, by gunshot, by collapsed building, by lack of medicine and by fear. And now, once again, it will come by hunger as Israel has closed off humanitarian supplies — with the agreement of not just the Trump administration but also the tacit support of the people of the U.S. and Europe who elected governments not committed to the rule of law and to stopping atrocities. Many are responsible for the small wasted bodies that will soon be seen again on Western television screens. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Trump met again this month — from positions of power and comfort, deciding the fate of people they will never meet. In their decisions, Gaza's children are reduced to collateral. Mothers, fathers and whole families are figures on a chessboard, disposable. Our kitchens used to smell like home — warm spices, olive oil, bread baking in the early afternoon. Now they smell like nothing. Just metal cans and whatever dried goods we can scavenge. Stocks that were able to come in at scale during the ceasefire 'have practically run out,' according to John Whyte of the United Nations relief agency for Palestinians. For six weeks, no aid has entered Gaza because of the ongoing Israeli blockade. The United Nations World Food Program said Friday that it had run out of food in Gaza. More than 2.1 million people are trapped, bombed and starved. When we can eat, it is only to survive, not to be full. Not to feel joy. Children line up for charity meals holding out plastic containers. Mothers break down while trying to quiet their babies' hungry cries. Fathers stare at the ground, ashamed to be unable to provide for their families. We try to turn next to nothing into something, but even the imagination is tired. Fruit, vegetables, meat — these are memories now. In the past, even under siege, we shared what little we had. But this time is different. Our shelves are bare. How did it come to this? How did the world get to a place where the collective punishment of starvation is used as leverage to shape the terms of a ceasefire? This isn't a consequence of war. It's a strategy. A deliberate and systematic Israeli effort — with Western acceptance — to make hunger a form of control. A way to turn a people into a population too weakened to resist oppression. This is not rationing. It's removal. And still, we remember who we are. We remember 1948, when our grandparents were forced from their homes. We remember 1967, when we were uprooted again. In every chapter, we held onto the land, planted in its soil. But this time, Israel has taken the fields too. Israel has taken the water, the seeds and the hands that once tilled them. According to the human rights group Al-Haq, more than 70% of Gaza is now inaccessible to its residents, with reports indicating that Israel has seized more than 37% of the land. And yet, how would you know? I am told CNN rarely covers us anymore. The people of Gaza don't appear in breaking news alerts. We are made invisible by the editorial decisions of people who find our lives too political, too inconvenient — whose audiences have accepted our suffering as unremarkable. Have you seen a mother dividing a single piece of bread among five children? Have you heard of the child who died from scalding after being knocked into a pot of food as a crowd scrambled for one meal? The stories sound unreal, but they're not. Even my cat is starving, and I don't know how to help her. But some people can watch entire communities starve and feel nothing. The same nations that speak of human rights in news conferences remain silent when those rights are trampled in Gaza. Even when South Africa brought a genocide case to the International Court of Justice, the court responded carefully — not a judgment, but a request: Stop bombing civilians, let aid in. Even that was ignored. The bombs fell anyway. The aid was blocked. The request was drowned out by Israel's allies — France, Germany, the U.S. — urging the court not to say the word 'genocide.' As if language could hide the bodies. This isn't just about Gaza. It's about the collapse of the very idea of justice. If the law bows to power, what is left for those without it? People must choose what kind of legacy they want to leave behind. Will it be one of silence in the face of starvation and Israeli abuses? Or one of courage, where justice is more than just rhetoric? We don't need pity. We don't need sympathy. We need rights. We need food. We need safety. A ceasefire is only the beginning. The siege, the apartheid, the multiple displacements — these are not footnotes. They are the story. And one day, when this is over — when the horror is fully brought to light — the world will be asked: How did you let this happen? Nour Khalil AbuShammala is a Palestinian trainee lawyer and human rights advocate based in Gaza City.
CBC
26-04-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Children among 10 killed by Israeli strike on Gaza City home
Social Sharing An Israeli airstrike flattened a three-storey home in Gaza City on Saturday, killing 10 people — half of them children — as Arab mediators scrambled to restart a ceasefire. Israeli strikes killed at least 49 people in the past 24 hours, according to health officials. The dead in the early-morning airstrike in a neighbourhood in western Gaza City included three women and five children, according to Shifa Hospital, which received the bodies. Israel's military said it had struck a Hamas militant and that the structure where he operated collapsed, adding that the collapse was under review. "There is no one from the resistance among them," said Saed Al-Khour, who lost his family in the strike. "Since 1 o'clock until now, we have been pulling out the remains of children, women and elderly people." He stood amid the rubble, under a tilted ceiling. WATCH | Professor maps destruction in Gaza: Professor maps destruction in Gaza 20 days ago Duration 0:29 Three other people were killed in the Shati refugee camp along Gaza City's shoreline. Hamas said on Saturday that it had sent a high-level delegation to Cairo to try to get the ceasefire — shattered last month by Israeli bombardment — back on track. Israel has vowed to continue the war until all hostages are returned and Hamas is destroyed or disarmed and sent into exile. It says it will hold parts of Gaza indefinitely and implement U.S. President Donald Trump's proposal for the resettlement of the population in other countries, which has been widely rejected internationally. Hamas has said that it will only release the dozens of hostages it holds in return for Palestinian prisoners, a complete Israeli withdrawal and a lasting ceasefire, as called for in the now-defunct agreement reached in January. WATCH | Israeli airstrike destroys part of last fully functional hospital in Gaza City: Israeli airstrike destroys part of last fully functional hospital in Gaza City 13 days ago Duration 4:25 An Israeli airstrike has destroyed part of Al-Ahli Arab Hospital, the last fully functional hospital in Gaza City. Witnesses said the strike destroyed the intensive care department of the hospital. Hamas said that its delegation will discuss with Egyptian officials the group's vision to end the war, which also includes reconstruction. Earlier this week, other Hamas officials arrived in Cairo to discuss a proposal that would include a five-to-seven-year truce and the release of all remaining hostages, officials said. Egypt and Qatar are developing the proposal, which would include the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the release of Palestinian prisoners, according to an Egyptian official and a Hamas official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to brief the media. Israeli blockade continues Israel has continued its nearly two-month blockade of Gaza, even as aid groups warn that supplies are dwindling. On Friday, the United Nations World Food Program said that its food stocks in Gaza had run out, ending a main source of sustenance for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. It said the dozens of charity kitchens it supports are expected to run out of food in the coming days. About 80 per cent of Gaza's population of more than two million relies primarily on charity kitchens for food because other sources have shut down under Israel's blockade, according to the UN. WATCH | 'We're living off of canned food,' Gaza family says: 'We're living off of canned food,' Gaza family says as Ramadan nears end 29 days ago Duration 1:20 Nearly one month after Israel imposed a complete blockade on goods entering Gaza, families fasting for the holy month of Ramadan say finding food has been a struggle amid dwindling supplies and soaring prices. "Meanwhile, nearly 3,000 UNRWA trucks of lifesaving aid are ready to enter Gaza," the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said on social media. "The siege must stop." Hamas on Saturday called on the Trump administration to immediately reverse its decision that the UN agency for Palestinian refugees isn't immune from being sued, calling it a dangerous step by Israel's close ally. Israel's offensive has killed more than 51,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Israel says it has killed about 20,000 militants, without providing evidence. The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 back into Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. The militants still have 59 hostages, 24 believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
Saba Yemen
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Saba Yemen
Lazaryny: Gaza children starving as Israel persistently denies access to food
New York - Saba: Gaza's children are starving due to the deliberate starvation policy pursued by Israel, Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said on Friday, as the occupier has continued to close the crossings to the Strip and prevent the entry of food and other essentials since March 2. "In Gaza, children are starving," Philippe Lazaryny added in statements via the X platform. "The Israeli government continues to block the entry of food and other essentials. This is a man-made, politically motivated starvation." Earlier Friday, the United Nations World Food Program announced that its food stocks in Gaza had completely run out due to the blockade. Lazaryny also explained that the tightened blockade imposed by Israel since March 2nd is nearing its second month. He concluded by saying that this continues while "calls for the entry of supplies fall on deaf ears." Whatsapp Telegram Email Print
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
WFP food stocks in Gaza gone as Israeli blockade continues
April 25 (UPI) -- The United Nations World Food Program announced Friday that all of its food stocks for families in Gaza have run out. "Today, WFP delivered its last remaining food stocks to hot meals kitchens in the Gaza Strip," the program wrote in a press release, "These kitchens are expected to fully run out of food in the coming days." WFP then stated that the kitchens have served as the "the only consistent source of food assistance for people in Gaza," and added "WFP has also supported bakeries to distribute affordable bread in Gaza," but that all 25 WFP-supported bakeries closed," in March "as wheat flour and cooking fuel ran out." As the Israel-Hamas conflict has continued, Israel has maintained a blockade, which has stopped all humanitarian or commercial supplies into Gaza for over seven weeks, with all main border crossing points closed. Over 127,000 tons of food assistance, "enough to feed one million people for up to four months, is positioned at aid corridors and is ready to be brought into Gaza by WFP and food security partners as soon as borders reopen," WFP explained. WFP said this is the longest closure ever imposed on the Gaza Strip, which has driven food prices up 1,400% when compared to during the cease-fire, and in combination with the end of its food stocks, it especially impacts "vulnerable populations, including children under five, pregnant and breastfeeding women, and the elderly." The organization has concluded that the "situation inside the Gaza Strip has once again reached a breaking point," and unless "urgent action to open borders for aid and trade to enter," is made, WFP may have to pull out.
