Sitting inside her fly-infested tent in Gaza City, Iman Rajab sifts clumps of flour through a sieve, over and over again. <\/p>\n
She found the half-bag of flour in a garbage dumpster. It is crawling with pests and shows clear signs of contamination. But it\u2019s still Rajab\u2019s best hope for keeping her six children fed and alive. So she sifts the flour once more to make bread. <\/p>\n
\u201cMy kids are vomiting after they eat it. It smells horrible,\u201d Rajab says of the bread it produces. \u201cBut what else can I do? What will I feed my children if not this?\u201d <\/p>\n
She is one of hundreds of thousands of parents in Gaza struggling to feed their children as the war-torn Palestinian enclave barrels towards full-blown and entirely man-made famine. <\/p>\n
For nearly two months, Israel has carried out a total siege of Gaza, refusing to allow in a single truck of humanitarian aid or commercial goods \u2013 the longest period Israel has imposed such a total blockade. <\/p>\n
Israel says it cut off the entry of humanitarian aid to pressure Hamas to release hostages. But international organizations say its actions violate international law, with some accusing Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war \u2013 a war crime. <\/p>\n
Cases of acute child malnutrition are also rapidly rising, one of the telltale signs of impending famine. Nearly 3,700 children were diagnosed last month, an 82% increase from February, according to the United Nations. <\/p>\n
Five-year-old Usama al-Raqab has already lost 8 lbs in the last month, now weighing just 20 lbs, according to his mother. According to the World Health Organization, the median weight for a healthy 5-year-old boy is about 40 lbs. <\/p>\n
He has several pre-existing medical conditions \u2013 including a pancreatic disorder and respiratory issues \u2013 which require a diet rich in fats and proteins to stay healthy. Those foods have become almost completely unavailable as Israel\u2019s siege approaches its third month. <\/p>\n
Usama\u2019s skin now sticks to his bones, and his mother says he can barely walk. <\/p>\n
\u201cI have to carry him everywhere. He can only manage to walk from the tent to the bathroom and nothing more,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n
When his mother takes off his clothes to bathe him, he winces in pain. Every movement is painful in his condition. <\/p>\n
The aid organizations that were once the answer to a food crisis that has roiled Gaza for much of this nearly 19-month-long war are now also out of answers. <\/p>\n
Standing in an empty warehouse, the WFP\u2019s emergency coordinator in Gaza Yasmin Maydhane said the organization\u2019s supplies have been \u201cdepleted.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are in a position now where over 400,000 people that were receiving assistance from our hot meal kitchens \u2013 which is the last lifeline for the population \u2013 is in itself grinding to a halt,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
If Israel would only open the gates to Gaza, the WFP says it is ready to surge enough aid into Gaza to feed the entire population for up to two months. UNRWA, the main UN agency supporting Palestinians, said it has nearly 3,000 trucks filled with aid waiting to cross into Gaza. Both need Israel to lift its blockade to get that aid in. <\/p>\n
As conditions in Gaza spiral, Israel has offered no indication so far that it is planning any action to avert all-out famine. <\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s European allies \u2013 including France, Germany and the United Kingdom \u2013have issued increasingly urgent calls for it to allow the entry of humanitarian aid \u2013 with one notable exception. Unlike last year, when former US President Joe Biden\u2019s administration pressured Israel repeatedly to facilitate the entry of more aid into Gaza, President Donald Trump\u2019s administration is backing Israel\u2019s blockade. <\/p>\n
The White House\u2019s National Security Council has issued statements supportive of Israel\u2019s control of the flow of humanitarian aid as a bargaining chip to compel Hamas to release more hostages. And last week, the newly appointed US ambassador to Israel rejected appeals from humanitarian officials to pressure Israel to open the crossings. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I would like to suggest is that we work together on putting the pressure where it really belongs: on Hamas,\u201d Ambassador Mike Huckabee said, calling on Hamas to agree to another hostage release deal. \u201cWhen that happens and hostages are released, which is an urgent matter for all of us, then we hope that that humanitarian aid will flow and flow freely.\u201d <\/p>\n
But Gaza\u2019s starving civilians are running out of time. <\/p>\n
At a soup kitchen in al-Nuseirat in central Gaza last Friday, hundreds of Palestinians waited in line in the scorching sun for the only meal most of them will eat that day. <\/p>\n
Sitting on the ground, an elderly woman named Aisha shields her head from the sun with the pot she hopes will be filled with food. She feels sick \u2013 her head feels like it is melting, she says. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are starving, tired, and weary of this life,\u201d Aisha says, her voice weak with fatigue. \u201cThere is no food, no nothing. Death is easier than this life.\u201d <\/p>\n
Young and the old crowd towards the front of the line, pots and bowls raised high. The one meal a day from this charitable association has become their only lifeline \u2013 but the exhausting routine of hours spent standing in line for meager sustenance is pushing him and many others to the brink. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis pot \u2013 how can it feed eight people?\u201d Abu Subhi Hararah shouts, unable to contain his frustration. \u201cWho should I feed \u2013 my wife, my son, or the elderly? <\/p>\n
\u201cOur children are dying from war, from bombings at schools, tents and homes,\u201d he cries. \u201cHave mercy on us. We are searching for a morsel of food.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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