During Ramadan, The Holy Month Of Fasting

When Ramadan arrived in Gaza on Monday morning, there was a bitter irony for the people who lived there. Five months of conflict had already been suffered by Gazans. Almost everyone in the population already needs food assistance to survive. According to Dr. Amjad Eleiwa, the deputy director of the emergency room at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, "the people here have already been fasting for months." "They scour the city looking for food to survive, but they cannot find any." The destruction of farming and food infrastructure throughout the region has resulted from Israel's assault on Gaza in retaliation for the Hamas attacks on October 7. Aid organizations claim that increased Israeli security checks on delivery trucks have caused delays in the distribution of aid to the populace. This Monday, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), the international authority tasked with defining famine, released a study stating that 1.1 million people, or over half of Gaza's population, were already experiencing starvation and that the remaining population may face famine by July. The north of Gaza is where the food situation is the worst. Residents there cannot look forward to filling their bellies with iftar, the meal that is served after sundown, or satisfy their hunger with suhoor, the pre-dawn breakfast, unlike in prior Ramadans. Devastation, death, and a daily struggle for sustenance have taken the place of street decorations, drummers, and vendors selling sweets. What little wheat or flour is available now costs five times as much. "I recall the previous Ramadan; there was delicious food—juices, dates, milk, everything you could possibly want," remarked Nadia Abu Nahel, a 57-year-old Gaza City woman who looks after an extended family with ten children. "Compared to this year, it is like heaven and hell," she stated. "The kids are dreaming of a loaf of bread right now; they are yearning for it. They are getting softer in the bones. They have trouble walking and are lightheaded. They're getting really skinny." At least 27 people—23 of them children—have perished in northern Gaza in recent weeks from starvation or dehydration, according to the poverty charity Care. Doctors from numerous northern hospitals say the real figure is probably higher. Dr. Eleiwa recently treated a boy who was between the ages of 10 and 12 who passed away last week during Ramadan; a boy who was about four months old whose mother was killed, leaving him without milk when none was available to buy; and an 18-year-old girl who was already experiencing epilepsy as a result of malnutrition. "She was already sick; none of her medicine was available any longer, and her family had no food," stated Dr. Eleiwa. "In the end, her body was very meagre, just bones and skin and no fat." Rafeeq Dughmoush, 16, was bedridden and under his care at al-Shifa on Friday. He was lying on his side. Rafeeq's legs had been severed below the knee; his bones were visible. His torso had a colostomy bag attached to it. He said the words "I am emaciated," breathing heavily in between sentences and speaking slowly. "My body is so feeble that I am unable to move it from side to side. I have to be moved by my uncle. BBC/Mohammed Shahin Mahmoud, Rafeeq Dughmoush's uncle, helps him. A blow to his family house resulted in the loss of one leg below the knee. According to their uncle Mahmoud, Rafeeq and his 15-year-old sister Rafeef suffered serious injuries, and 11 family members were killed in an Israeli airstrike that struck their home. Their mother, their four other siblings, and their nieces and nephews were among the deceased. Rafeeq claimed that before the blow that injured him, he was already malnourished. "We could not find any kind of fruit to eat—no apple, no guava, no meat—and any food at the markets was all too expensive," he stated. Rafeef claimed she had begged the hospital staff for any fruit or vegetable for him to eat, "but they could not provide any." Rafeef's leg was broken by the strike and fastened together. It used to be a season of pure delight, Ramadan. "Heaven compared to now," remarked Rafeef. Her words were, "It really was beautiful." However, these days won't return. The most amazing individuals in our lives have vanished." Although Kamal Adwan Hospital has superior pediatric facilities, the doctors at al-Shifa have sent a large number of their malnourished youngsters there. Nevertheless, a significant number of children have also passed away there. Ten children are currently in a critical condition, according to Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, head of pediatrics at Kamal Adwan, who stated that in the previous four weeks, starvation or dehydration had claimed the lives of twenty-one children at the hospital. "I feel helpless to save these children, and it is a hard and shameful feeling," said Dr. Safiya. "I have the same feeling for my staff, who cannot find enough food for themselves and some days do not eat." He declared that Israel was fighting a "war by starvation." "Intentionally depriving children of food, killing them with hunger—there is no law in the world that allows occupiers to do this." Josep Borrell, the head of EU foreign policy, has also charged Israel with deliberately starving the Gaza Strip. "In Gaza, we are no longer on the brink of famine; we are in a state of famine," he stated on Monday. "It is not acceptable. Hunger is employed as a military tactic. Israel is causing starvation." Israel disputes that Gazans are being purposefully starved. It has placed the blame on Hamas, which Israel claims has appropriated aid, and the UN, which it claims has created logistical difficulties around relief supplies. Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, refuted reports last week that Gazans were going hungry. He told the news organization Politico, "That's not the information we have, and we monitor it closely." But there is starvation in Gaza. Senior Middle East spokesperson for the World Food Programme, Abeer Etefa, stated, "The facts speak for themselves." "1.1 million people under IPC Phase 5 have an enormous amount of hunger. Furthermore, acute malnutrition affects more than one-third of children under the age of two. This implies that they could perish." 200 tonnes of food aid donated by the nonprofit organization World Central Kitchen landed by barge at a freshly created jetty off the shore of Gaza on Friday. The jetty was built by the organization using the debris from demolished structures. It is believed that it may provide some respite over the remaining days of Ramadan and lessen the acute shortages in north and central Gaza. However, the humanitarian aid program has given rise to charges against Israel, claiming that it has neglected its humanitarian obligations to the general public and that other countries and NGOs must now fill the gap. According to Juliette Touma, director of communications for UNRWA, "the state of Israel is obliged as an occupying power to cater to the needs of the population or to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid." And that's not what they're doing. Insufficiently. In the wreckage of their house in central Gaza's Deir al-Balah, father of six Khaled Naji was assisting his spouse in preparing dinner on Friday as the World Central Kitchen barge approached the shoreline. Other stories An ancient video appears with a Ghanaian prophet foretelling a complete internet blackout in 2024. Ajman Bank reported Dh1.56 billion in operational income in 2023—a 66% increase. Watch: This video captures Raphael Dwamena’s last moments before he passed away on the field. Your goals are 10 years behind if you were born in Africa – KiDi OPOKU-AGYEMANY IS MY RUNNING MATE-MAHAMA AND I AM PROUD OF THAT.