People in Gaza are struggling to survive on less than a single loaf of bread per day as dire food shortages force bakeries and community kitchens to close.
With very little aid entering Gaza due to restrictions imposed by the Israeli authorities and food prices astronomically high, many people rely on community kitchens as their only hope of getting one meal a day, but now even some of these are having to close their doors, leaving people with nowhere to turn.
Amjad Al-Shawa, director of the Palestinian NGOs Network (PNGO) – an umbrella organization of 30 Palestinian NGOs in Gaza, and a partner of ActionAid Palestine – who is based in Deir Al-Balah said:
“We are warning of the collapse of [humanitarian action] due to the [Israeli army’s] continuous restriction [of] the entry of basic supplies [into Gaza], mainly the flour for the [bread] factories, which stopped working about one month [ago] now, and also supplies for the community kitchens.
Community kitchens [have] closed and cannot offer meals [to] the families who became dependent on these hot meals.
We are warning of catastrophic conditions for the children, women and elders, patients, people with disabilities who all depend on this humanitarian aid, which became very limited due to the restrictions. The share of [food] each Palestinian [has] is less than one loaf of bread every day…it’s [a] real catastrophe.”
Bread is a lifeline for people in Gaza, but amid flour and fuel shortages, only four bakeries run by the World Food Programme are currently operational across the whole of the strip. Demand is so high that people are forced to begin queuing as early as 3 am at bakeries and flour trucks in order to try and secure their share. The cost of flour, where it is available, has soared, with prices for a 25kg bag reaching as high as $279.28 in Deir Al-Balah, according to OCHA.
While food shortages are affecting everyone, women and children are particularly impacted. More than 4,000 children are being admitted for treatment of acute malnutrition every month, according to OCHA. A recent monitoring survey by UNICEF found that almost no pregnant and breastfeeding women or their newborns were getting a varied enough diet, with most people in Gaza surviving on bread and pulses as vegetables, meat, and eggs become unavailable.
In the north of Gaza, which remains under siege by the Israeli army, the situation is critical: up to 75,000 people have been almost entirely cut off from supplies of food for more than 60 days. Staff at Al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza, which is run by ActionAid’s partner Al-Awda, tell us that doctors and patients are surviving on just a single meal per day. It has now been more than a month since the Famine Review Committee warned that starvation and malnutrition in northern Gaza were rapidly increasing and that the threshold for famine may have already been crossed – yet still, hardly any aid has reached the area.
As the Israeli military continues to bombard the entire Gaza strip, simply going out to find food for your family means risking your life. On December 1, 13 people were killed and 30 injured by an Israeli military airstrike while they were waiting to receive food parcels from WEFAQ, ActionAid’s partner organization, at their distribution gate. Five of those who were killed were family members of WEFAQ staff.
Riham Jafari, Advocacy and Communications Coordinator at ActionAid Palestine, says:
“As starvation continues to be used as a weapon of war in Gaza, it’s becoming ever harder for people to get enough food just to keep them alive. Our partners and other humanitarians are doing their very best to secure food parcels and hot meals for people where they can, but with such limited supplies allowed in, even community kitchens are having to close their doors. With nowhere in Gaza safe, people face the stark choice of starving to death or risk being killed or maimed while queueing for food.
The world cannot continue to watch on while the people of Gaza waste away. A permanent ceasefire is the only way to ensure that enough aid can be safely delivered to the more than 2 million in need and avert a full-scale famine.”
ENDS
Amjad Al-Shawa and Riham Jafari are available for interview. For media requests, please email christal.james@actionaid.org or call 7046659743.
About ActionAid
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