GAZA, (PIC)
“Without exaggeration, children are dying from the siege and hunger,” says Palestinian journalist Islam Badr, describing the real-life situation in the Gaza Strip, especially in the northern governorate, where the most severe forms of starvation and oppression are practiced.
In this context, activists have launched a number of hashtags such as “The North is Hungry,” “Famine in Northern Gaza,” and “Northern Gaza is Starving” on social media to shed light on the famine striking the northern Gaza Strip, and the prevention of the entry of any vegetables, meats and basic necessities for about two months.
The participants in the hashtag tweeting agree on the need to highlight what about 700,000 citizens in the Gaza City and northern governorates are exposed to in terms of a starvation policy due to the imposed Israeli siege, and to put pressure on Israel to open the crossings and urgently allow access of humanitarian aid.
The painful images circulated by activists and news agencies of Gaza’s children turning into skeletal structures due to malnutrition after the Israeli occupation army launched a fierce starvation war on the northern governorates of the Gaza Strip and prevented the entry of relief aid to more than 700,000 steadfast citizens in the northern regions confirm what journalist Islam Badr said at the beginning of the conversation.
Dr. Zayed Al-Salman conveys a painful scene, saying, “Amid the lack of medical needs and the renewal of famine, we attempt to resuscitate an infant inside the Baptist Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip.”
The journalist Khaled Safi conveys a more painful image of the famine, saying, “The child Hanan Al-Zaanin suffers from dehydration and malnutrition due to the continued siege and aggression, and as long as you remain silent, it is not far-fetched that we will report her martyrdom, like the 33 children who died of hunger before her.”
For his part, the journalist Anas Al-Sharif conveys a severe image of the scale of the tragedy, and accompanies it with a comment: the reality is harder than all the pictures.
Al-Sharif says, “The famine is striking the north of Gaza again. The child Amjad Al-Qanoo’, aged three years, suffers from severe malnutrition due to the Israeli blockage on the entry of humanitarian aid into the northern part of the enclave.”
In another comment, the writer and political analyst Ibrahim Al-Madhoun says, “I spoke to one of the citizens in the north of Gaza, and he told me briefly that we are dying of hunger in the literal sense, and I could not control myself.”
Al-Madhoun wonders, “What is happening? Why is everyone ignoring the fact that civilians are being killed by thirst, hunger, heat, and neglect?”
Media blackout
Activist Muhammad Saeed says, “There is a frightening media blackout, and an intentional blackout on reporting the news about what is happening in the north of Gaza.”
A massive starvation war
He points out that “the previous media campaign had moved the whole world and spread as a very strong and pressing trend, and its impact was that it was able to deliver food to the people there.”
He added, however, “But now, after everyone has forgotten their situation and the world has neglected them, the noose has been tightened on them again, and the arrival of food and all the necessities of life to them has been prevented, and the famine has returned again, and the people find nothing to eat or to feed their children.”
Saeed concluded by making an appeal, “Be the new media and speak about them, and do not get tired of talking about their suffering.”
Slow killing
For his part, Dr. Osama Abu Bakr, a member of the Jordanian Scholars Association, said that the north of Gaza is being exposed to slow killing through starvation, stressing that it is clearly a genocide.
He emphasized that “It is necessary to put pressure on the Zionists to open the crossings, and to allow entry of water, food, and medicine, especially to the northern areas of Gaza.”
Abu Bakr adds, “The children and adults are in a deplorable state, with malnutrition, diseases, and fear. We must abandon all luxuries and divert funds to them.”
Horrifying scenes that break the heart are shown on the tribulations endured by the people of northern Gaza in order to obtain a plate of food.
One of the bloggers with the name “Freedom for Palestine” condemned the silence on what is happening in Gaza and called on the world not to remain silent, saying, “The news that everyone must talk about is that there is a famine in northern Gaza. The issue was a trending topic for a while and the whole world was talking about the northern Gaza Strip. Now the north is in an even worse famine than before. I hope everyone speaks up again, our words make a difference, don’t stay silent.”
The bloggers called for breaking the silence and drawing attention to the ongoing crime of starvation against the people in Gaza, especially in the northern governorate. Activists also circulated very moving video clips and photos of the scale of the tragedy and the humanitarian disaster facing the people of the Strip, which requires urgent intervention from all living consciences in the world to stop this crime.
