They drink dirty water and eat what they can: how famine and death haunt Gaza’s residents

Gaza is going through a serious humanitarian crisis. One in four Palestinians in the region face hunger, According to United Nations officials. Access to aid to deliver food to civilian populations is disrupted due to fighting Sanctions from Israel.

“We stayed in a school for more than a month with more than 50 people, but the situation became catastrophic,” Account. “So we decided to live in a tent despite the cold,” Hind Ahmed, a mother of three, tells AFP. “There is nothing left in Gaza: no schools, no education, no basic needs,” she says desperately.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres says this 2 million Palestinians in Gaza, or 87% of the population, depend on UNRWA services.

The testimony collected by CNN shows the dire reality that civilians in Gaza are living through. Mohammed Hamouda, a now-displaced physiotherapist, said a colleague of his had died while fetching water for his family in a refugee camp. “Many relatives and friends are still in northern Gaza and suffering greatly. They eat grass and drink contaminated water.” From Hamouda to series.

A mother also told this to CNN The only way to save his seven children from hunger is to put them to sleep. “Now they are weak, they always have diarrhea, their faces are pale,” said Hanadi Gamal Saeed El Jamara, who says she tries to feed the children at least once a day.

World Health Organization (WHO) spokesman Christian Lindmeier told a news conference in Geneva that UNRWA had 22 health centers before the war, but as of mid-January only six were functioning.

Lindmeier said the dispute over the 12 UNRWA staff diverted the world’s attention from the disaster in Gaza and the military siege, which “prevents the entire population from accessing clean water, food and shelter.” “This is a distraction from the continuous bombing of entire populations, even in areas that have been designated as safe zones some time ago.”

A group of 20 aid organisations, including Oxfam and Save the Children, issued a statement saying that suspending funding to the main agency in Gaza would be a disaster: “Israel’s continued indiscriminate bombing of Gaza and deliberate denial of aid are causing the population to face hunger, imminent famine and disease outbreaks.” They said.

The Israeli blockade and restrictions on aid distribution to the affected population have created worrying food shortages. And while the fighting has spread to the north, south of Gaza, which was devastated in the first months of the war, it is difficult to fully understand the situation due to lack of communications.

Some hospitals are still operating in Gaza. Doctors have to work without light, without supplies, with injured patients lying on the floor because there are not enough stretchers.

Many of them children are covered in blood and crying in pain. Overwhelmed doctors struggle to care for them with inadequate medicines and other supplies.

In the north, which was Israel’s first target, mountains of debris littered the landscape. Most of Gaza city and surrounding districts have been destroyed. Many residents who fled fear that they will never be allowed to return or, if they do, that their neighborhoods will become unlivable.

Tent camps have spread everywhere amid the debris. Food distribution sites are overcrowded and hunger, beyond Israeli bombardment, is becoming a threat to life.

Israeli troops burst into Gaza, saying they were destroying Hamas tunnels, and the terrorist group fired rockets at Israel. The war continues and currently there is no clear end in sight.

UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini announced an external review to determine which previous allegations by Israel and its supporters were “true or false” and which were “politically motivated”.