Gaza's Residents Relying on Animal Feed and Rice to Sustain Themselves as Food Supplies Run Out

The isolated northern region of Gaza is facing a severe food crisis as aid convoys are increasingly being denied permits to enter. Residents have reported that children are going without food for days and some have resorted to grinding animal feed into flour to survive, but even those stocks are running out. The UN has warned that acute malnutrition among young children in the north has risen sharply, reaching above the critical threshold of 15%. The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) reported that aid missions to the north of Gaza were denied access more than half the time last month. This is coupled with increasing interference from Israeli forces in how aid is delivered. An estimated 300,000 people in the northern areas are now cut off from assistance and face a growing risk of famine. The World Food Programme (WFP) has stated that there is a serious risk of famine in Gaza if significant volumes of food assistance are not provided regularly. The agricultural industry in Gaza has been largely ruined or abandoned due to the war, and even the olive press and farmland belonging to Bassem Younis Abu Zayed in the central region of Deir al-Balah have been damaged. People in northern areas are also struggling to find reliable water supplies, with many residents digging down into the soil to access water pipes. The situation is becoming increasingly dire as makeshift solutions for bridging food and water gaps are wearing thin and few ways to restock food supplies are available. The UN estimates that almost a third of residents in northern areas could be facing a “catastrophic” lack of food. Aid can also be blocked by fighting, bureaucracy, or rubble, and the growing desperation of Gaza’s people further complicates aid deliveries. A deal between Israel and Hamas is seen as the only way to ease the suffering of people in Gaza.