Half a Million Gazans Are Suffering From Acute Hunger. Let That Sink In

The scope of the crisis in Gaza is becoming clearer; according to the UN, Israel is creating conditions that are making life in Gaza impossible; but Israeli leaders are unbothered

By Nir Gontarz

“We’re hearing that food has entered Rafah, but hardly any gets to us. I swear to you by the life of Allah and the life of my children: We are living in hell. For a week and a half we have been in a house that was destroyed, without almost any walls, without windows and without electricity. Our luck is that until a week and a half ago there were Israeli soldiers in this house. We are living off the garbage they left behind.”

– A., a resident of the northern Gaza Strip, who relates that his family cannot move south, because his wife is disabled

Hello to Italian lawyer Francesca Albanese, who since 2022 has been serving as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories. What is the situation today in Gaza?

“There is very acute hunger there. The present quantity of food, despite the aid that is entering, is insufficient. There is not enough food and water, and there are no means for cooking. In the northern Strip there have been no functioning bakeries since November 9. In the south, 44 percent of the people who replied to questions in a survey conducted by the World Health Organization said they are suffering from a serious degree of hunger, even though they ostensibly have access to aid and food at a certain level. In the north there is no way to check this, because the area is controlled by the Israel Defense Forces and no one can enter. It’s possible that many more people there are suffering from hunger. It’s beyond belief.”

Still, do you have an estimate regarding the overall picture?

“A UN report that was written last month states that one of every four people in the Gaza Strip – that is, more than half a million people – is suffering from severe hunger. In certain areas, nine of every 10 families might go through an entire day without food. They simply have no food.”

UN policy in the region is determined on the basis of your reports. Can you explain on what you base the data you publish?

“We are talking about reports of the UN’s World Food Program. They have teams on the ground that monitor the food that is being allowed into the Strip; there is data about the amount of food. I know nurses who went to work in hospitals in Gaza and discovered that there is not enough food for the foreigners, either. Of course there is not enough food for the [Israeli] hostages, either. There is simply no food. There are other cases in the world of near-hunger, such as in Afghanistan or Yemen, but the numbers in Gaza are higher. Take into account that only 8 percent of the population receives aid from the UN.”

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Why only 8 percent?

“One reason is that there is no access to the north. The second reason is Israel’s heavy bombing, including in areas that the IDF has declared to be safe. This is a region of harsh warfare; it is not a normal situation. There are many difficulties. So, what there is, is not sufficient, and what there is does not reach everyone. You know, it’s difficult to provide assistance to 1.9 million displaced persons. They no longer have a home. They are crowding into places of shelter. There are 1.4 million people who are living in places like schools or hospitals that are no longer active. How can aid be provided to so many people when everything is bombed, when there are not even any bakeries, when nothing is normal? Gaza is destroyed.”

Do you think that the government of Israel and the IDF understand that this is the situation? Because they are saying very different things.

“I think they know exactly what they are doing. Israel knows everything that is happening in Gaza, and now it also has soldiers on the ground. They know exactly what they are doing, Nir.”

Do you think that Israel is deliberately depriving civilians of food?

“Israel is creating the conditions that are making life in Gaza impossible. Yes, definitely. We can talk about food, but here is something that haunts me: A thousand children underwent amputations without anesthesia. Why aren’t they [Israeli authorities] allowing anesthetics to enter? It’s a catastrophe. Do they know that this is what is happening? Obviously they know. Israeli politicians have declared that the population in Gaza is responsible for what happened on October 7, and because of that they have abandoned all restraint. Look, there is no way to justify Hamas, and I condemn the killing of the civilians and the cruelty that was adopted, but what is happening today in Gaza is beyond belief. There are 2.3 million Palestinians who are being denied resources essential for their survival.”

Thank you, Francesca, for this interview.

“Just one more thing. I ask myself how what Israel is doing now to the Palestinians will make Israel’s citizens safer. Israel is sowing the seeds for a far more radical region in the years ahead. I am genuinely afraid of what will happen. Even if the battles stop tomorrow, it will be difficult to rehabilitate Gaza, very difficult. I think that Gaza has been destroyed. Look, I am not saying this out of hatred for Israel, in fact the opposite is true. I only want Israel to be safe without obliterating another people.”

“All my produce died – tons of vegetables that could have fed half the children of Gaza. Israeli tanks drove over some of my fields, and it’s too dangerous to enter the ones that weren’t damaged. My family and I, who were well-off compared to most Gazans, managed to get to the tent city in the south and we aren’t leaving. People who know me are asking for handouts, for me to get them food, but I am barely managing to help my family.”

– M., prominent farmer from the central Gaza Strip

Hello to Sheren Falah Saab, a Haaretz journalist who is in direct and continuous contact with residents of Gaza and is covering the situation there. Recently you published monologues from people suffering from hunger there (“Much harder for children’: Severe hunger is spreading in Gaza. Four voices from a human catastrophe,” Jan. 4).

“Right. Before the war I had never heard Gazans begging for help, for food – so mentally broken. It’s hard to grasp the extent of the hunger crisis in Gaza, because it reflects the profound moral nadir to which we on the Israeli side have sunk. If this were a natural disaster, one could understand and come to terms with it, but what is happening now is collective punishment through starvation, and I am talking about children, women, elderly people. How can this be? Whom does it benefit? The Gazans are being stripped of their humanity. What do they have left? Nothing.”

Maha, 26, who moved with her family from Gaza City to Rafah, related in her monologue that the 22 members of her extended family had to make do with two cans of ful (fava beans) a day and that she felt hungry all the time. Noel, 43, who arrived in Rafah from Beit Lahia, said that her family was subsisting on date cookies distributed once a day, and that one night her son woke up and cried that he was hungry. Alham, 38, who was uprooted from Gaza City to Rafah, said her baby nephew had stopped being breast-fed because his mother was too weak to produce milk. Now, in the absence of baby formula, he cries from hunger all the time.

* * *

In routine times and also in wartime, humanitarian operations in Gaza are handled by Maj. Gen. Ghasan Alyan, the Israeli coordinator of government activities in the territories. His organization, COGAT, is also the principal source – one could almost say the exclusive source – of information for political and military leaders about the humanitarian situation in the Strip. If it errs in understanding the reality in Gaza, or is careless in its reports, that will have direct implications for the decisions made in Israel and for the lives of the 2.3 million inhabitants of the Strip.

A substantial disparity seems to exist between the dire picture of Gaza described in UN reports, and the situation on the ground as understood by leading political and military figures in Israel. Perhaps they prefer not to know about it, but it’s also possible that the reason for that disparity lies in a gap in the information that comes from COGAT.

Hello to Col. A., a representative of COGAT, which is responsible for supervising the transfer of aid into Gaza. Is there hunger in the Gaza Strip today?

“To the best of my understanding, and according to all the analyses we have conducted, there is no hunger in Gaza, and for sure the population is not being starved.”

What are your tools for determining that there is no hunger in the Strip?

“There are facts. I am present at the border crossings. I see everything that is checked by us and that enters the Strip. There is open-source intelligence, OSINT; there are images in the social media. In addition, I conduct situation appraisals twice a day with representatives of the international community. One is with the UN agencies and the other is four-way: with us, the Americans, the Egyptians and the UN.”

But leading figures in the UN say there is severe hunger in Gaza.

“I haven’t read an in-depth UN report about hunger. I have read reports by other organizations, which conduct phone surveys. There’s no way to know how they do that and whom they call.”

In your situation appraisals, you don’t hear claims about hunger from the international sources?

There is no hunger in Gaza … There were stockpiles of food in Gaza. Don’t forget that this is an Arab, Gazan population whose DNA is to hoard, certainly when it comes to food.

Col. A., a representative of COGAT

“No. I hear requests to coordinate the movement of trucks [carrying food and other humanitarian aid] and the transfer of goods to other places in the Strip, which we are doing. Sometimes they explain that if a certain transfer does not take place within a relatively short time frame, distress to the point of hunger could develop. But it doesn’t come to that, because we coordinate the movement of the trucks.”

Israel says that 70 tons of food have entered the Gaza Strip since the war began. Divide that by 90 days of fighting, and then among 2.3 million people, and you get less than 350 grams per day per person.

“Before the war, the Strip was bursting with food. The warehouses and the supermarkets were full. Both in the private sector, among the farmers, and in the UN’s warehouses. The food industry worked vigorously – so that calculation is nonsense. There were stockpiles of food in Gaza. Don’t forget that this is an Arab, Gazan population whose DNA is to hoard, certainly when it comes to food.”

How long does it take for a container from the moment it is unloaded in El Arish port, in Egypt, until it gets to Gaza?

“About a week. El Arish is a small port, there is no efficient unloading and packing company there. The capacity is low. Besides that, there aren’t enough trucks in El Arish [to transport all the food arriving there]. After dealing with bureaucracy at the port, the trucks undergo inspection by Egyptian authorities at Rafah. Trucks belonging to the Red Crescent and the UN are sent to be checked by Israeli authorities.”

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How many trucks can you check a day?

“I’m able to inspect more than 350 trucks a day, but the UN can’t absorb more than 190.”

Why?

“They don’t have enough trucks. UNRWA [the UN refugee agency] has taken control of everything and doesn’t allow other agencies to operate. When they took over and excluded these other agencies, they didn’t adjust their logistics systems. They don’t have drivers, there are no forklifts, there is no foreign workforce.”

Where are the UN personnel?

“Only a few have arrived from abroad. Even in Syria hundreds of auxiliary personnel arrived during the war [there].”

And if they were to come in droves, would you allow them to enter?

“Of course, but they don’t need my authorization. They could fly into Cairo and travel to Rafah. I don’t control the border crossings there. It’s easy for everyone to blame Israel for everything.”

Let’s say the world were to double the amount of food being sent to Gaza – would you agree to and succeed in transporting it there?

“Yes.”

You wouldn’t harm anything that’s related to humanitarian aid?

“Correct. The UN warned about a humanitarian crisis long before the war. That’s ridiculous. Never in all the period in which Hamas ruled there was the economic situation better than in the run-up to the war.”

* * *

Hello to Chili Tropper, former culture and sports minister and member of the security cabinet, from Benny Gantz’s National Unity Party. As we agreed, I’m calling you to talk about the shortage of food in the Gaza Strip.

“Three months of war will certainly generate a food shortage. I am convinced that there is a shortage, but it wasn’t created in one day. The question is who started the war. Hamas massacred, raped and abducted innocent citizens in civilian communities – not on the battlefield. That starting point is important. Hamas not only launched the war, they are also those who could stop it by laying down their weapons and releasing the hostages. Those who are to blame and are responsible for the serious humanitarian situation in Gaza are the leaders of Hamas. They are the ones who are sacrificing the population.”

In the meantime, we are hearing reports about hungry civilians. There is simply not enough food.

“Israel does not have a starvation policy. On the contrary: This is an unprecedented situation in which a country that is at war is permitting a lot of humanitarian aid to come in while its hostages are still there and haven’t even met yet with the Red Cross. We are trying to prevent a humanitarian disaster.”

Why doesn’t Israel flood Gaza with food? After all, food can’t be used as a weapon against you.

“We are in a state of war with them. Every action is taken judiciously, after checking where the shipment is going. To the best of my knowledge, the amount [of goods] that is entering provides a reasonable response to the situation, but the organizations involved are having difficulty making the aid available to the entire population. There are not enough trucks, there isn’t enough manpower, Hamas interferes and does damage. Hamas has an interest in creating a picture of starvation and of a tremendous humanitarian disaster.”

In the present situation, who is actually responsible for the civilian population in Gaza?

“The Strip is presently in a situation of combat. Our responsibility is to allow third parties to bring in humanitarian equipment for the benefit of the population.”

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The Israeli government says it is working to demolish Hamas’ regime, including the local police, of course. Who is supposed to guard the aid trucks on the ground? Who is responsible for paving the roads that were destroyed, which has made it impossible for the trucks to get through?

“Ultimate responsibility rests with Hamas, and despite that, we are operating as best we can from the humanitarian point of view. I don’t feel responsible, but I also don’t feel that I can completely disengage from dealing with this issue. The conditions are very complicated. We are both allowing the entry of food and also ascertaining that it reaches the population as much as possible. The IDF is allowing the UN to move about in all areas. I don’t know if there is a precedent for a country doing everything it can to bring food in to a population, from within which that country is being fought. By the way, Hamas enjoys very broad support from that population. And still, I don’t want to be the mirror image of Hamas and to be cruel like them. I have permitted the entry of thousands of trucks since the start of the war and am allowing the Jordanians to parachute in humanitarian aid.”

The government is forbidding Israeli organizations and private individuals to send goods of any sort that originate in Israel into Gaza. Why? I understand that even Israeli baby formula can’t be brought in.

“The state’s strategic decision is to disconnect from Gaza. Commercial relations with it are over. In the past we thought that the commercial relations were beneficial to both sides. We were wrong. That’s finished.”

* * *

Hello to Minister of Culture and Sports Miki Zohar, from Likud. To the best of your knowledge, is there extensive hunger in the Gaza Strip?

“The answer is no. What exists in the Strip is perhaps a shortage. There is no abundance there, that’s for sure. Let’s put it this way: The shelves in the supermarkets are not full. ‘Hunger’ is a very extreme term – that is not the situation in Gaza. There is food there. Not like before the war, of course, but people there are not in a state of absolute hunger. That is not the situation.”

Senior figures in the UN, and not only the UN, are talking about hunger.

“Maybe they are referring to the northern Strip, where the situation is in fact tougher, because the supplies don’t reach there, and rightly so. Whoever is there needs to go down to the southern part of the Strip. They will not have a shortage of food and water there.”

Who is responsible, in your opinion, for the basic sustenance of the residents of Gaza?

“Until not long ago it was the Hamas terrorist organization. We saw how much they cared about their citizens. The only thing that interested them was to destroy Israel. From the moment Hamas is not present, like in the northern Strip, every person is responsible for himself, and those who will go south will meet up with the international bodies there.”

But who is responsible?

“According to the information I have received, in the southern part of the Strip, Hamas is still dealing with certain matters relating to civilian needs. When we finish annihilating the organization, we will have to hand over the baton of civilian administration to a particular body, whose identity we don’t yet know.”

* * *

Hello to attorney Oded Feller, head of the legal department at the Association for Civil Rights in Israel. The UN is reporting severe hunger in the Gaza Strip. Where are the civil organizations in this story?

“ACRI was among those who approached President Biden, together with other organizations, to address issues relating to human rights [in Gaza]. We realized that here in Israel no one is paying attention to these things. We think that the American involvement in this war is critical. The subject is indeed on the American agenda.”

What about petitioning the High Court of Justice?

“That doesn’t stand a chance; there is no one to talk to. We appealed to them several times on the most basic issues involving human rights, and they threw us out, tarred and feathered. They don’t agree to intervene in anything. This isn’t the first war in which there has been no point in approaching the High Court, for the simple reason that it does not intervene. It’s not willing to discuss the matter. Worse: Not only do you not achieve any positive result, you get a judgment that legitimizes things.”

* * *

Hello to MK Zeev Elkin from the National Unity Party, a member of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. Unlike your coalition colleagues, you think that Israel should assume responsibility for civilian life in the Gaza Strip. Please explain.

“Israel is trying to reduce as much as possible its engagement with civilian issues in Gaza, for fear that in the end it will end up being responsible for them. But with all due respect to fear, that is a shortsighted approach. We must give consideration to all of the most basic issues and think how we prevent humanitarian disasters. We are obliged to be in that picture. It’s impossible to be a player who wants to change the diplomatic-political reality in the Strip, and on the other hand behaves like someone who threw the keys into the sea and has no connection. That doesn’t work. It makes no sense to operate in Gaza and on the other hand not to address the civilian issue, and let Hamas manage it. That is a major mistake. I’ve been saying that since the second day of the war.”

It’s impossible to be a player who wants to change the diplomatic-political reality in the Strip, and on the other hand behaves like someone who has no connection. It makes no sense to operate in Gaza and on the other hand not to address the civilian issue, and let Hamas manage it. That is a major mistake.

Zeev Elkin

Is there hunger in Gaza?

“There isn’t just one Gaza today. There are many ‘Gazas.’ There is a dramatic difference between the north and the south. There are 200,000 Gazans in the north, and hardly any aid has reached there, and the situation there is a lot tougher. In the south, aid has entered in very large quantities. The problem is who gets the aid and where it goes. Are there people there who aren’t succeeding in obtaining means of sustenance? I believe there are. Especially in the north. Is that the general situation in all of Gaza? No. In any event, the major obstacle is the Rafah crossing. Israel is not limiting the amount of aid.”

The question is whether Israel is responsible now for the condition of the civilians in Gaza.

“The State of Israel is trying to behave as though it’s not. I think that is a serious mistake. Not only in terms of international law, and not only in terms of morality and values, but also in terms of achieving the war’s aims. In the end, the goal is diplomatic-political in nature: for Hamas not to rule in Gaza any longer. People’s basic existence is a critical issue when it comes to achieving that goal. Take, for example, a fisherman in Gaza. Until October 7, he was dependent on Hamas for providing 20 percent of his needs. Now he’s sheltering, and in most of the places of shelter, especially those belonging to UNRWA, the managers are Hamas people. The manager of the shelter decides how much food and water the man will receive, so his dependence on Hamas has risen to 100 percent. From this point of view, Hamas’ control of the population has become stronger since the war started.”

And Israel is not in the game.

“We are not dealing at all with the aspects of civilian life there. We are agreeing to allow aid in under international pressure and we are not involved in the question of who is distributing it, whom it is being distributed to and how it is being distributed. In this way we are strengthening Hamas’ control over the population. I have been arguing for a long time that this approach must be changed radically. We need to create an effective mechanism to manage civilian life already at this stage, not in the distant future, and [to ensure that] this mechanism will not rest on Hamas personnel.”

Do you feel compassion for the noncombatants in Gaza?

“What you’re asking is not easy [to answer]. When I think of that fisherman – maybe his son was one of the Nukhba terrorists who infiltrated our communities? It’s a complex issue. A large part of the [Gazan] population cooperated with Hamas and also rejoiced and celebrated after the massacre. But in the end, in the territories under our control, what happens there is our responsibility. It doesn’t matter how much anger and alienation I feel with respect to the population, in the end we will remain with them, whether we want to or not. It’s impossible to evade the issue of what happens with them. It has to disturb you, also in terms of the responsibility involved. It’s on us.”

Haaretz approached war cabinet ministers Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot with a request to address the issue of hunger in Gaza. Neither of them responded.

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