Gaza’s Silent Cry: Families Forced to Eat Grass and Battle Contaminated Waters as Famine Looms
Hanadi Gamal Saed El Jamara, 38, shares the heartbreaking reality of her family’s struggle for food in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where sleep is the only reprieve from relentless hunger.
With her husband battling cancer and diabetes, El Jamara resorts to begging for food on the streets, aiming to feed her seven children at least once a day.
As Gaza teeters on the brink of a full-scale famine, displaced civilians and healthcare workers are sacrificing their own meals to ensure their children have access to the scarce available food.
Even if Palestinians manage to find water, it is often contaminated, adding to their plight. Relief trucks are met with desperation as people compete for the limited aid, and children, forced into homelessness by Israeli bombardments, cry and fight over meager supplies.
The ongoing Israeli bombardment and siege, which began on October 7, have severely depleted essential resources in Gaza. The Integrated Food Security and Nutrition Phase Classification (IPC) indicates that the entire population of approximately 2.2 million is now at high risk of acute food insecurity or worse. UN agencies report that a significant portion of the 400,000 Gazans deemed at risk of starving are already experiencing famine conditions.
The dire situation follows more than 100 days of mass displacement, widespread destruction, outbreaks of deadly diseases, and a shattered healthcare system. The UN’s emergency relief chief, Martin Griffiths, warns that starvation and dehydration pose significant threats to the survival of the population.
Reflecting on the slow death facing her family, El Jamara laments, “I think it’s even better to die from the bombs; at least we will be martyrs. But now we are dying out of hunger and thirst.”
Since October 7, Israel’s strikes on Gaza, launched in response to Hamas attacks, have resulted in a devastating toll. According to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health, at least 26,637 people have been killed, and 65,387 others injured. The conflict continues to unfold with widespread suffering, leaving many residents resorting to desperate measures, including consuming grass and contaminated water, to survive.
