‘Have Mercy on The Starving People of Gaza’

The starving people of Gaza no longer count the days, but the hours, minutes before they collapse from hunger.

Hunger is ravaging more than 2.5 million people living in a small coastal area of Gaza subjected to a genocidal war for nearly two years.

The elderly say they never experienced such famine in their lives, not even in the wars of 1948-1967, when they ate dry bread which is currently not available.

Hanadi Ismail says: “It’s true the first famine in this war a year ago was very difficult, especially for us in the northern Gaza but there was a little flour, rice, and lentils. Now, there is nothing, and even if there is, we cannot buy it because of the high prices.”

Ismail, a mother of six, told Quds Press: “Yesterday, my children went to bed hungry, and I tried to comfort them. This morning, I cooked some lentils for them, but they weren’t full. I hope we would get some food in the coming hours.”

Ms. Ismail’s situation is similar to that of thousands of women who cannot provide for their children, while men are helpless due to the famine plaguing the besieged Gaza Strip.

Palestinian activists launched a campaign, Friday, against merchants who sell essential goods at exorbitant prices despite the fact that many of these markets were destroyed because of the Israeli genocide.

The Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip warned on Friday of a worsening health disaster as a result of the escalating hunger crisis.

It confirmed in a press statement that hospitals and emergency departments are receiving unprecedented numbers of citizens of all ages suffering from severe stress caused by hunger and malnutrition.

It explained hundreds of patients whose bodies have became emasculated and are at risk of death because of the severe food shortage and the lack of any effective humanitarian solutions.

The director of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza has also confirmed that the medical staff deal daily with hundreds of cases showing severe symptoms of famine, most notably severe emaciation, loss of consciousness, poor concentration, and a sharp decline in vital functions.

These cases include children, women, and the elderly, and that a large number of patients suffer from temporary memory loss and general fatigue as a result of chronic hunger.

He added approximately 17,000 children in the Gaza Strip are suffering from severe malnutrition, amid a shortage of basic food supplies and the absence of ongoing aid, which could well to a complete health collapse.

Meanwhile, Suhaib al-Hams, director of the Kuwait Specialized Field Hospital in Mawasi Khan Younis, said the hospital is currently witnessing an unprecedented influx of displaced people there. “We are receiving cases suffering from extreme exhaustion and complete fatigue, along with signs of severe emaciation and acute malnutrition due to the prolonged lack of food.”

“We confirm that all the cases we are receiving now are in dire need of food before medicine, and we warn that hundreds of those whose bodies have completely emaciated are now threatened with death after their bodies have exceeded their ability to withstand.”

Al-Hams called on the international community and humanitarian organizations to take immediate and urgent action to stop the Palestinian bloodshed, fully open the crossings, provide essential food and medicine supplies, and ensure that humanitarian aid reaches those in need without any obstacles.

For its part, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) warned of what it called an “imminent humanitarian catastrophe” in the coming hours.

In a press statement, the PFLP indicated that the coming hours could witness mass deaths of the most vulnerable groups, primarily children, the sick, and the elderly, amid the dangerous deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. This is a result of the escalating aggression and the continued systematic starvation policy practiced by the occupation, with American partnership, international silence, and the blatant complicity of the European Union.

The PFLP added: “Our steadfast people in Gaza do not need hollow speeches, but bold political positions that halts the comprehensive war of extermination, foremost among which is the immediate lifting of the blockade and holding the occupation accountable for its crimes against humanity.”

It held the European Union politically and morally responsible for the worsening famine, considering it a partner in the starvation crime being perpetrated against our people through its inaction and providing diplomatic cover for the occupation. We call on the countries of the European Union to stop their policy of camouflage and manipulation of public opinion and to abandon their blatant bias toward the occupation.

The Front stated: “Despite escalating warnings about the threat of famine and the use of food as a weapon against more than two million besieged Palestinians, the European Union has chosen to cover up the occupation’s crimes through false diplomatic promises that have not translated into any tangible steps. The recent bargaining between some EU countries and the occupation’s foreign minister clearly reflects the EU’s policy of deception and complicity.”