Gaza - Saba:
The international organization "ActionAid" confirmed on Saturday that Palestinians in the Gaza Strip face great difficulty in surviving, as many of them live on less than one loaf of bread per day, due to the severe food shortage that forced bakeries and community kitchens (Takaya) to close.
It said in a statement issued that many families rely on community kitchens as their only hope for obtaining one meal per day, but some of these kitchens have now been forced to close their doors, leaving people without any source to resort to in light of the limited aid to Gaza as a result of the restrictions imposed by the Israeli occupation authorities, and the fantastic rise in food prices.
The organization indicated that only four bakeries run by the World Food Program operate in Gaza, and the demand is so high that people are forced to start lining up at three in the morning in front of bakeries and flour trucks in an attempt to secure their share.
It pointed out that the price of a 25 kg bag of flour reaches about 1,000 shekels in Deir al-Balah, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in northern Gaza.
The agency continued food supplies to about 75,000 citizens have been completely cut off for more than 70 days in northern Gaza, and doctors and patients at al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza are surviving on only one meal a day.
The foundation stressed that hunger and malnutrition in northern Gaza are rapidly increasing, and that the famine threshold has already been crossed. Despite this, only very limited aid has reached the area.
It stressed that with the occupation continuing to bomb the entire Gaza Strip, simply going out to look for food for family members means risking the lives of individuals.
On the first of this month, 13 citizens were killed and 30 others were injured in an air strike launched by the occupation while citizens were waiting to receive food parcels.
“As starvation continues to be used as a weapon of war in Gaza, it is becoming increasingly difficult for people to get enough food to survive. Our partners and humanitarian workers are doing their best to deliver food parcels and hot meals wherever possible, but with the very limited supplies allowed in, even community kitchens have been forced to close,” said Reham Jafari, the organization’s communications and advocacy officer.
“With no safe place in Gaza, people are faced with a tragic choice starve to death, or risk being killed or injured while waiting in food queues. The world cannot continue to watch in silence as Gaza’s people wither away. A lasting ceasefire is the only way to ensure aid can safely reach more than two million people in need and prevent widespread famine.”
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