For nearly 60 days, Israel has blocked food from Gaza

(AP) — For nearly 60 days, no food, fuel, medicine or other item has entered the Gaza Strip, blocked by Israel. Aid groups are running out of food to distribute and markets are nearly bare. Palestinian families are left struggling to feed their children.

In the sprawling tent camp outside the southern city of Khan Younis, Mariam al-Najjar and her mother-in-law emptied four cans of peas and carrots into a pot and boiled it over a wood fire. They added a little bouillon and spices.

That, with a plate of rice, was the sole meal on Friday for the 11 members of their family, including six children.

Among Palestinians, “Fridays are sacred,” a day for large family meals of meat, stuffed vegetables or other rich traditional dishes, al-Najjar said.

“Now we eat peas and rice,” she said. “We never ate canned peas before the war. Only in this war that has destroyed our lives.”

The around 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza are now mainly living off canned vegetables, rice, pasta and lentils. Meat, milk, cheese and fruit have disappeared. Bread and eggs are scarce. The few vegetables or other items in the market have skyrocketed in price, unaffordable for most.

“We can’t get anything that provides any protein or nutrients,” al-Najjar said.

Beans, peas and bread dunked in tea

Israel imposed the blockade on March 2, then shattered a two-month ceasefire by resuming military operations March 18. It said both steps aim to pressure Hamas into releasing hostages. Rights groups call the blockade a “starvation tactic” endangering the entire population and a potential war crime.

Item by item, foods have disappeared, al-Najjar said.

When meat became unavailable, she got canned sardines. Those are gone. They used to receive cartons of milk from the U.N. That ended weeks ago. Once a week, she used to buy tomatoes to give her children a salad. Now she can’t afford tomatoes.

Now, they are on a routine of cans of beans or peas and carrots, she said. When they can't find that, they get lentils or pasta from a charity kitchen. If she finds bread or sugar, she gives her kids bread dunked in tea to stave off their hunger, she said.

“I’m afraid my son’s children will die of hunger,” said Mariam’s mother-in-law Sumaya al-Najjar. The 61-year-old said she and her husband have cancer; she has stopped taking her medication because its unobtainable, and her husband is being treated in a hospital.

Mariam worries how she’ll feed her children when what’s left in Gaza runs out.

“Maybe we’ll eat sand,” she said.

Malnutrition hitting children at a key time in their development

Doctors warn that the lack of variety, protein and other nutrients in children's diet will cause long-term damage to their health.

Israel has leveled much of Gaza with its air and ground campaign, vowing to destroy Hamas after its October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel.

It has killed over 51,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, whose count does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Almost the entire population has been driven from their homes. Hundreds of thousands live in tent camps.

In the October 7 attack, militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251. They still hold 59 hostages after most were released in ceasefire deals.

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