One in six children under the age of two in Gaza is severely malnourished. (document)
Palestinian territories:
In the Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza, Abu Gibril was so short of food to feed his family that he slaughtered two of his horses.
“We have no choice but to slaughter the horses to feed our children. Hunger is killing us,” he told AFP.
The fighting in Jabaliya, the largest camp in pre-war Palestinian territory, began when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,160 people, according to Israeli data.
Abu Gibril, 60, fled there from nearby Beit Hanun when the conflict broke out. His and his family’s home is now a tent near a United Nations-run school.
The densely populated camp, established in 1948 and covering just 1.4 square kilometers (half a square mile), has become a problem with water pollution, power outages and overcrowding.
Poverty caused by high unemployment is also a problem faced by more than 100,000 people in the country.
Now, food has run out, aid agencies are unable to enter the area because of the bombings, and the few trucks that have tried to get through have been robbed.
The World Food Program said last week that its teams were reporting “unprecedented levels of despair”, while the United Nations warned that 2.2 million people were on the brink of famine.
On Friday, Hamas-controlled Gaza’s health ministry said a two-month-old baby died of malnutrition at a Gaza City hospital seven kilometers (just over four miles) from Jabaliya.
According to the ministry, nearly 30,000 people in Gaza have been killed in the war.
Scavenging and begging
In the camp, filthy children waited expectantly with plastic containers and worn cooking utensils for what little food there was.
As supply dwindles, costs continue to rise. For example, one man complained that the price of a kilogram of rice soared from 7 shekels ($1.90) to 55 shekels.
“We adults are okay, but these four- and five-year-old children go to bed hungry and wake up hungry. What did they do wrong?” he said angrily.
UNICEF has warned that an alarming surge in food shortages, malnutrition and disease could lead to an “explosion” of child deaths in Gaza.
It was estimated on 19 February that one in six children under the age of two in Gaza was severely malnourished.
Residents began eating rotten corn scraps, animal feed unfit for human consumption, and even leaves in an attempt to alleviate their growing hunger.
“No food, no wheat, no drinking water,” one woman said.
“We started asking our neighbors for money. We didn’t have a shekel in our house. We knocked on doors, but no one gave us money.”
“die of hunger”
Jabaliya’s emotions grew increasingly heightened due to the lack of food and its consequences. An impromptu protest involving dozens of people was held on Friday.
One child held a sign that read: “We don’t die from air strikes, we die from hunger.”
Another held a placard warning “famine eats our flesh”, while protesters chanted “No to hunger, no to genocide, no to lockdowns”.
In Beit Hanoun, Abu Jibril harvested a field with his two horses. But the conflict destroyed everything and his house, leaving him with nothing.
For weeks and months, Israel’s relentless bombardment left Gaza essentially in ruins, with only a hint of life left.
Abu Jibril retained his radical decision to slaughter the horses, boil the meat with rice, and serve it to his unsuspecting family and neighbors.
Despite the need, he said he remains wary of their response. “Nobody knew they were actually eating a horse.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
