Daijiworld Media Network – Gaza

Gaza, Aug 2: As Gaza faces a full-blown famine confirmed by UN-backed experts, desperate voices from the besieged strip reveal a humanitarian catastrophe of unimaginable scale. Residents say the horror of starvation has long surpassed warnings and official declarations — it is now their daily reality.

“All my children have lost nearly half their body weight,” said Jamil Mughari, a father from central Gaza’s Maghazi area. “My daughter, who is five, weighs just 11 kg. My son Mohammad is only skin and bones. I used to weigh 85 kg. Now, I’m down to 55.” Mughari struggles to stay conscious as he searches for food, often feeling dizzy or trembling from hunger.

This week, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) declared that the "worst-case scenario of famine" is unfolding in Gaza. It follows months of blocked aid, mass displacement, and relentless Israeli airstrikes that have killed more than 60,000 Palestinians — a number believed to be much higher, with thousands buried under rubble.

With over 2.2 million people pushed to the brink, food is nearly impossible to find. “We go weeks without flour. Sometimes there’s only one meal a day — lentils — and on many days, we just drink water to feel full,” Mughari said.

The humanitarian crisis is worsened by a breakdown in aid distribution. Soup kitchens and food stations are limited, open only briefly and often swarmed by desperate crowds. Many have been targeted by Israeli fire. “Only the strong and armed can seize the aid trucks. The poor are left to starve,” Mughari added.

Mansoura Fadl al-Helou, a 58-year-old widow, refuses to send her only son to food lines out of fear. “People are trampled and attacked. Soldiers fire on crowds. I’d rather starve than lose my son.”

Parents now watch helplessly as their children fade. Abu al-Abed from Deir al-Balah described his 14-year-old daughter’s visible ribcage and the collapse of all local food sources. “The markets are too expensive. There’s no income. Even soup kitchens are gone. And the world just watches.”

He lashed out at global indifference: “If we had asked them to protect animals in Gaza, they’d act. But for us — no Arabs, no Muslims, no Christians — no one responds.”

Despite the IPC confirmation of famine and global calls for a ceasefire, Gazans remain skeptical that the world will intervene meaningfully. Al-Helou called on the international community: “We are dying slowly. Please save us.”

On Britain’s plan to recognise Palestine in September, she added bitterly, “What kind of state has no sovereignty, no self-defence? Recognition must mean real rights and dignity — not just words.”