GAZA, (PIC)
“The ongoing Israeli genocide against Gaza,” experts at the United Nations said, “has caused the hardest human tragedy since the Second World War.”
Meanwhile, UNRWA pointed out that citizens in Gaza are living the gravest bombardment since the Second World War.
As people all over the Gaza Strip have suffered from such a tragedy, stories of solidarity among them prevailed.
Mohammed, fed up with living in a torn-up tent in Mawasi area in Khan Yunis city in northern Gaza, recounts his story of toil to win some flour.
As hunger has driven his kids to tears, he had to borrow 120 shekels approximately 40 USD and finally got three kilos of flour.
Although he knew well that his four children who hadn’t had a loaf of bread for days were still waiting, he gave the three kilos of flour to an old woman who couldn’t afford it.
Mohammed was left with mixed feelings of the happiness of helping an elderly and the guilt of not providing for his kids.
Before arriving to his tent, he met an acquaintance who knew the story and gave him a share, half of a 25-kilo flour bag.
In the northern Gaza Strip, Manal Al-Assi, 55, has witnessed the hardest days of famine throughout the region.
Al-Assi told the PIC correspondent that she used to share whatever food she got with her neighbors during these days, adding that she was thankful for the blessing of getting food no matter how little it was.
“The Israeli occupation is trying to subjugate the Palestinian people by starving them out, making them cold, and massacring them,” she added, affirming that the people are standing together to defeat the occupation and drive it away of their land.
Moreover, Um Tarik Abul Ata told our correspondent that she ran out of flour completely. As an alternative, she depended on macaroni and rice for basic meals, although very expensive in the meantime. While she cooks such meals once a day, she was surprised that a bag of flour was brought to her as an aid from a friend.
Um Tarik, who is in her sixties, after finally getting the flour bag, decided to give a fourth for her neighbor, a fourth for her brother, and another for her brother-in-law, keeping only a fourth for her own family.
“These days are the hardest for years; kids sleep hungry,” she underlined, adding that people need to be merciful towards each other especially during this hardship.
Furthermore, Mahmoud Al Haddad, wept while talking to our correspondent, “as I pondered the question of how to feed my kids crying for a loaf of bread day and night, my neighbor called me and handed me some loaves.”
“My wife baked 40 loaves; you can take 20,” he quoted his neighbor as saying, praising his act of solidarity in such compelling circumstances.
But for Mohammed, a displaced old man in Khan Yunis city, he doesn’t only support people, but also animals. He provides food for birds. Although staying in a tent in hard conditions to the west of the city, he cares for birds fluttering near his tent.
“I don’t feed birds for pleasure, but for grief over what has become of every living being in this besieged enclave: a human, a bird, or an animal,” Hajj Mohammed said, affirming that he’s the provider of his family comprising of eight members amid the high cost of living.
The UN and government reports outlined that the whole enclave suffer from severe hunger, as the flour prices are rising and basic food supplies are scarce.
The reports also revealed that the occupation deprives citizens in Gaza of their basic needs to survive, adding that it uses hunger as a weapon against the innocent people in Gaza.
