Children Die in Silence in an Apocalyptic Setting in Gaza
HAVANA TIMES – Famine is advancing in the Gaza Strip, and children and adults, including humanitarian workers, are wasting away from hunger—just like the Israeli hostages held by Islamist militias Hamas and Islamic Jihad, according to a new report from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA’s Commissioner-General, stated: “When you reach a point where even those who care for and assist others start to faint from hunger, it means the entire humanitarian system is collapsing. And that is exactly what we are witnessing today in Gaza.”
“It is a kind of post-apocalyptic environment, where children are dying in silence from starvation, and those who haven’t reached that point are begging to escape this hell,” Lazzarini added.
He explained that many children’s logic, as gathered by UNRWA, is: “Maybe it would be better to die, because in heaven or hell there might be food, whereas in Gaza, there is none.”
The 2.1 million residents of the 365-square-kilometer enclave have faced severe shortages of food and other supplies for months due to Israel’s blockade, imposed as it wages war against Hamas and restricts access to aid from the UN and other humanitarian organizations.
Israel only permits food deliveries through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, established jointly with the United States. This foundation operates limited distribution points, where food is handed out amid chaotic scenes and shootings that have claimed the lives of desperate Palestinians searching for food.
More than a hundred adults and children have already died of hunger, and in May, June, and July, around 1,500 people died while trying to access food at the distribution points set up by the Israeli-American foundation.
In contrast, UN agencies report that in neighboring countries, around 6,000 trucks carrying food and supplies are stranded, ready to enter the Strip as soon as Israeli authorities grant permission.
This past weekend, further deepening the crisis, Hamas and Islamic Jihad militias released videos showing their Israeli hostages in emaciated and deplorable condition, pleading to be released as soon as possible.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked the Red Cross to try to bring food and other aid to the hostages. Hamas responded that it would allow the operation if Israel opened humanitarian corridors and allowed urgent aid to enter Gaza for its population.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, again called for the release of the hostages and for aid to be allowed in, echoing other UN officials who stated,
“The worst possible scenario—famine—is underway.”
Lazzarini said: “Every day we receive distress messages from starving populations and even from our own UNRWA colleagues. How can I respond to these messages of desperation? They shame me and reinforce my sense of helplessness.”
Two weeks ago, journalists from the French news agency AFP, with support from the French government, issued a distress call on behalf of their colleagues in Gaza to help them obtain food for their families.
According to Lazzarini, “Israeli authorities are starving civilians, including one million children,” who make up part of Gaza’s population.
Israel has authorized airdrops of vital supplies for more than a week, declaring a daily pause in fighting for a few hours in certain areas for humanitarian purposes.
Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, France, and the United Kingdom have reported airdrops of food and essential items, and Germany has announced its intention to organize a “humanitarian air bridge to Gaza” via Jordan.
However, many observers view these operations as expensive and inefficient, since the amount of aid that can arrive this way is limited and lacks proper oversight to ensure it reaches those most in need.
The current war began when Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages. In response, Israel launched a military campaign that has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians and reduced most of Gaza’s infrastructure to rubble.
As an American, i am appalled and ashamed to live in a country where the government is complicit in the genocide and crimes against humanity of the Palestinian people. As with Israel, we need to be held accountable.