The true cost of starvation in Gaza – Tug of War

“It's happened again. Palestinians in the Gaza Strip were shot and killed by Israeli artillery as they waited for food. Gaza authorities said at least 19 people were killed in Gaza City over the weekend ahead of relief deliveries. One person was killed and 23 injured. The Israel Defense Forces denied firing on the people in the convoy and said they were reviewing the incident. But we've seen this before. Remember the so-called Flower Massacre that happened in February?

Within minutes, I heard that there was a crowd flocking to that truck. A gunshot went off. The sound was coming from a nearby Israeli military position where the truck had just arrived. That caused confusion around the aid truck. The truck then sped away and plowed into the people who were there, and the majority of them.

And, of course, beyond the risk of being shot, there is hunger itself. The Gaza Ministry of Health said dozens of people in northern Gaza had died of starvation and dehydration. But experts say the effects of the hunger crisis could last long after the war ends.

Some people are feeling lonely right now. Having this kind of survival mentality where they can only think about themselves and their children makes them feel abandoned.

From CNN, it's a tug of war. I'm David Lind.

CNN's Jumana Karachi is here today. She joins us from London. And Jumana 8 organizations continue to sound the alarm about the food crisis in Gaza. But every time I hear a term like food insecurity, I feel like it actually explains very little. So, could you please help us explain what people are actually facing in Gaza right now?

Well, David, aid agencies have been sounding the alarm for months. They warn that Gaza is on the brink of starvation, especially in the north, and its entire population of more than 2 million people is at risk of starvation. But we are no longer at the point where we are running the risk that something like this might happen in the future. It's already happening now.

'that's right. It's happening. It's unfolding as we speak. And this is what we heard. As you know, the latest report, the IPCC report, the Integrated Food Security Aspects Classification, is a UN-backed report. And that's really scary. Basically, it turns out that famine is imminent in northern Gaza and could be officially declared any time between now and May. And the majority of the population is in the north, or phase 5 of the IPC scale. It's a devastating famine in the South. And these regions are better off than the north. They are currently at level 4, which is the emergency stage. And we hear the UN Secretary-General say that this is the most catastrophic number of people facing hunger ever recorded at any time. And what's really worrying and alarming and shocking to many aid agencies is the speed at which this is happening and the fact that this is completely man-made. They argue that Israel is suppressing aid supplies to Gaza and that the suffering is completely preventable. And I heard UN officials and EU foreign policy chiefs accuse Israel of using hunger as a weapon of war. And, of course, that is something Israel denies. David, to answer your question, what does this actually look like on the ground? Here are some examples of what we've seen over the past few days. People are now scavenging for food.

A child recently evacuated from northern Gaza spoke to a photographer in central Gaza. He said they were digging through the rubble of destroyed homes, trying to find dry, crusty bread. Any food anyway. And there are countless people in the north picking wild plants. They boil the wild vegetables and eat them. That's why I can't get this image out of my head. There's a video of my grandma sitting there. She is washing grass and fallen leaves. She is crying while washing fallen leaves.She is wiping her tears. And she turned to the camera and said this was all she could find and this was the meal. . She said 30 members of her family are preparing to break the Ramadan fast, which is animal food, but what else can they do?

Last week, a family of parents arrived with seven young children. They arrived in central Gaza, where our photographer encountered them. And as you can imagine, they are exhausted, thirsty, and hungry after an 18-hour journey on foot from the north. They had decided to stay at home. they didn't want to leave. They remained there during the bombardment and all the events that occurred in the north. But they said it was hunger that finally drove them out when they couldn't take it anymore. They could not feed their children.

I mean, this says a lot about hunger, right? They intended to hold out where they might be hit by Israeli airstrikes at any time, but hunger forced them out.

That's exactly right. And this is what we're starting to see more and more, David. More families, more people are saying: You know, they were determined to survive the bombing, but now they can't cope with the level of hunger and starvation. There is a father who was so desperate that at one point he considered throwing his children into the sea, which led to the unthinkable. So, my family, they will never get through this nightmare. And while our photographer was filming with the family, someone came and brought a small bag of pita bread. And as you watch that scene, David, it's really hard not to get emotional as you watch the kids, including the toddler, devour what the family said was their first real food in five months. Is difficult. We are talking about ordinary bread. There is a mother who shoves expired juice into her baby's mouth. Because they have nothing else left to give and it's completely devastating. Especially when we know, as we are hearing, that this is completely man-made suffering and that Israel can stop this by allowing aid to flow into Gaza. David.

Yeah, I mean, that's what I was trying to say, because on Monday afternoon, as we sit here, the United Nations Security Council finally passed a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire. The United States did not exercise its veto power as in the past. They just abstained. But as a result, Israel basically said, “Yeah, remember that high-level delegation that came to Washington, D.C., to talk about Rafah?” Well, they don't come anymore. So what are we to make of how adamant Israel is about all this, including this aid?

I mean, it's very difficult. So, as we've seen David over the past few months, the international community, with the United States as Israel's ally, strongest ally, biggest supporter, has not been able to even get to where Israel is. . It would open up the land routes that the US had to go through and encourage them to start dropping aid to Gaza from planes to find a way around it. And the problem is that with all the diplomacy and all the politics going on behind the scenes, there are people on the ground who continue to suffer. In other words, a UN resolution has been passed, but will this have any impact on the ground?

That's not feeding a starving child.

Absolutely not.

More Jumana after the break. Welcome to Tug of War and She Conversation with CNN's Dramatic She Karachi. So, clearly, there are short-term effects of starvation. And we've seen people starve to death. But what are the long-term consequences for a population facing such a hunger crisis?

Of course, there will be long-term health effects, and there will certainly be long-term effects on society as well. right. And on all sides of this war, people are going to wonder how we're going to recover from this. Once a close-knit society, people now feel lonely. Where they feel abandoned and have this kind of survival mentality and can only think about themselves and their children, and what we've seen over the past few weeks, people rushing into these relief convoys. , there is a scene where there is a fight over relief supplies. Bags, flour, as we have seen and heard from people, there are people who are killed for that little food. Of course, you can't look at that and put yourself in the shoes of people who are trying to support their families. But we also have to think about the long-term effects and how it will change society, how it will change the way people think.

It won't be easy to erase that mindset when this is all over.

And the longer it lasts, the more difficult it will be to enhance that right. Although this situation is approaching half a year, there is no doubt that there are long-term psychological effects as well.

So we heard from parents who felt powerless and unable to protect their children any longer. They cannot protect themselves from bombs. It cannot protect them from rapidly spreading diseases. And now you know that the most basic duty of a parent, to feed your children, has been taken away from them as well. And there are many people who say they wish they had died so they wouldn't have to feel this way.

Yeah. It's, I mean, it's scary to hear, and I hear people saying about the aid that's coming in at this point, that it's really just a small drop in the ocean. Jumana, thank you for bringing this story to us. appreciate.

anytime.

Tug of War is a production of CNN Audio. This episode was produced by Paola Ortiz, myself, and David Lind. Our senior producer is Haley Thomas. Dan Dzula is our technical director and Steve Lickteig is our CNN audio executive producer. Support is provided by Alex Manasseri, Robert Mathers, John Dianora, Lenni Steinhart, Jamus Andrest, Nichole Pesaru, and Lisa Namerow. Special thanks to Caroline Patterson and Katie Hinman. We'll have another episode on Friday. So let's talk.