In northern Gaza, at the Jabalia refugee camp, a densely built-up area of small streets, Abu Gibril was so desperate for food to feed his family that he slaughtered two of his horses. Then, he boiled the meat with rice and gave it to his hungry children. “We had no other choice,” he said. “Hunger is killing us.”
Gibril’s story is a microcosm of the dire situation in the Palestinian territory, where food scarcity and contaminated water are creating hunger and malnutrition that will be difficult to reverse. About 1.9 million people have been displaced by the conflict, with families struggling to survive as Israel continues its bombardment of Gaza. At least 8,500 people have died since the start of the war, including many children.
The Israeli military says its strikes on Jabalia are aimed at targeting the terrorist infrastructure of Hamas, including underground tunnels used for smuggling weapons and militants into Israel, as well as rocket launch positions. It also says it is destroying a base of the Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA, in western Jabalia to prevent its use as a Hamas headquarters. The UNRWA says 67 of its workers have been killed, complicating its efforts to run 150 shelters for the 670,000 displaced by the fighting.
A shortage of fuel is threatening to cripple vital medical and humanitarian services in Gaza, with hospitals already operating on generators and warning that they will stop working without more supplies of gas. The World Health Organization warned of a public health catastrophe unless the supply is immediately restored, predicting an increase in diarrhea, respiratory infections, and skin conditions.
In Jerusalem, the British-Israeli chef Yotam Ottolenghi urged the Israeli government to allow fuel into Gaza so that the power grid could be brought back online. He said that if the power is cut again, hospitals will have to stop working, which would jeopardize the lives of 50,000 patients.
The bombing of Jabalia sparked international condemnation, with Bahrain and Jordan expelling Israel’s ambassadors and the United States expressing its concern over “indiscriminate killing.”
But Israel has maintained that it is doing all it can to minimize civilian casualties and is targeting Hamas leaders. It says it has been trying to warn residents of the area to evacuate, but thousands have refused, unable or unwilling to make their way south toward the Egyptian border.
