THEY’RE LIVING IN HELL
Starvation now ‘being used as weapon of war’ Mums tell of their struggles to help kids
CLOSE your eyes for a few seconds and imagine you are living in a cold and filthy shelter, the sound of constant bombing in the background.
You are watching your children slowly fade away and die from thirst and hunger. If starvation doesn’t get them, disease and illness might.
This is not a horror fiction, but the unthinkable reality for thousands of traumatised mothers in Gaza who have lived through six months of brutal bombardment resulting in a blockade preventing vital food and aid being delivered.
Earlier this week, US secretary of State Anthony Blinken flew to Israel to press for a truce in Gaza, ahead of a key UN Security Council vote.
A report confirmed 70% of people in northern Gaza are on the brink of famine, with one in three children under two suffering acute chronic malnutrition.
Riham Jafari works with Actionaid Ireland and is on the ground in Palestine as its advocacy and communications co-ordinator.
She told the Irish Sunday Mirror:
“Before the war 500 trucks a day were bringing aid into Gaza. It is now estimated that Gaza needs more than 1,000 trucks a day to cover the increasing humanitarian needs of the people. But only a trickle of aid is getting in.
“The bombings have destroyed crops and food production facilities. There are no markets and shops are closed. People are so hungry they are eating seeds and animal fodder, and are foraging for wild grasses in a desperate effort to survive.
“Starvation is being used as a brutal weapon of war. Never has a civilian population gone hungry so completely, and in such a short space of time.
“We cannot wait for a formal declaration of famine to prevent thousands of civilians, especially children, starving to death. Action is needed now.
“We must not forget or abandon the women and children, and indeed all the citizens of Gaza, who are living a nightmare.”
Dr Mohammed Obeid, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon in Al-awda Hospital in northern Gaza, warned of the impact of malnutrition on patients.
He said: “Providing food, whether for patients or medical teams and hospital workers, is extremely challenging.
“Items that were once purchased for one dollar now cost between 70 and 80 dollars.”
There are 52,000 pregnant women in Gaza, with 180 babies born every day. New mothers can’t produce enough milk to breastfeed, infant formula is impossible to get, and there are limited painkillers even for those who have caesarian sections.
Susan, a midwife supporting displaced women, works in a school being used as a shelter.
She revealed: “The situation is tragic. There are many women who are forced to give birth before their due date because of fear, anxiety from the bombing.
“When a woman gives birth in a tent, there is no bathroom for her to use, and there is no food. There is no milk, eggs, vegetables, fruits, or any of the things we are used to eating, so many women have anaemia.
“Women need milk for their children and milk is expensive. Women ask for diapers. There are a lot of infected wounds. Women are suffering. They are barely living their lives.”
Heartbreaking testimonies from mothers in Gaza were shared with Actionaid staff and their partners this week. One mother told how her children are so afraid of the bombs they are incontinent.
Mother-of-five Ola
Ola lives with her five children, her brother, and his 10 children in one tent in an overcrowded camp in south Gaza. There is no sanitation and no safe drinking water. She said: “Shops are closed and we cannot buy anything. But even if they were open, we don’t have money. No one cares for us, or even knows we exist.
“My nephew Habib had jaundice. I took him to the health centre and I was told to isolate him. I cannot isolate him. We are in a tent – he can’t have his own room.
“Many children are ill because of the drinking water. Chicken pox is also spreading. Small children are getting nits and lice.
“My poor nephew has lice bite marks all over his neck and belly. Even us grown women are getting infected.
“I bathe my children but cannot dress them in clean clothes because we don’t have any. We live one day at a time. This is a war like no one has ever experienced before.”
Blind mother-of-four Iman
Iman is a mother of four living in a camp in north Gaza. She is blind and her husband is visually impaired. Fear is causing her children to be incontinent.
She said: “It is very difficult for someone who is blind to live in a tent. I cannot do my laundry, make a fire or cook. The pollution here is causing diarrhoea, vomiting, and stomach aches, not to mention the emotional
Gaza needs more than 1,000 trucks to cover increase in needs, but only a trickle getting in
distress we are facing. Some bread is available again, but we sadly don’t have the money for it. My husband has to beg people for a few loaves of bread. Aside from the bread available here, we have nothing to eat.
“It is so difficult to watch your children suffer from incontinence due to their fear of the war.”
Widowed mother Maysoon
Maysoon is finding it impossible to feed her family. In this season of Ramadan, when people fast all day, she says they struggle to access food for Suhoor, the meal eaten after sunset.
She revealed: “I am a widow and have no-one to support me. Some of my children are deaf and have speech disabilities. We have no food. I go around to look for a can or box of food, but I can’t find any.
“We sleep without Suhoor. I wake up, pray and then go to line up to get water. But when my turn comes, the water is finished. There is no drinking water. I can’t find anything to eat or cook, and I can’t do anything about it.”
Support Actionaid’s work in Palestine at www. actionaid.ie.
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The pollution here is now causing diarrhoea and vomiting, plus emotional distress