This is not a warning.
The famine has arrived In Gaza. This is not a metaphor, nor is it a prediction. every day.
It was the awakened child who asked the cookies to no longer exist. Students studying for exams when they fainted from hunger.
The mother could not explain to her son why there was no bread.
It is the silence of the world that makes this horror possible.
Famined children
My eldest son, Tasneem, has three daughters. She was born on May 11, 2021. My sister’s son, Ezz Aldin, was born on December 25, 2023 – early in the war.
One morning, Tasneem walked into our space and held them in his arms. I looked at her and asked a question that would not remind me of: “Does Tasnim, Noor and Ez Alding know about hunger? They know we’re in famine? ”
“Yes,” she said immediately. “Ez, the only one who knew about war and ruins, could understand it. He had never seen real food in his life. He didn’t know what the ‘choice’ was. The only thing he asked for was bread.”
She imitates his baby voice: “obz!obza!obza!” – the way he says “Khobza” (a piece of bread).
She had to tell him, “No flour, my dear. Your father went out and looked for some.”
Ezz Aldin didn’t know about a ceasefire, borders or politics. He doesn’t care about military actions or diplomatic statements.
He only wanted a small piece of bread. The world gave him nothing.
Noor learned to count and recite the letters of his mother. Before the war, she loved chocolate and cookies. She was the first grandson in our family, with toys, snacks and small dresses inside.
Now, every morning, she wakes up and turns to her mother with her wide and excited eyes. “Go and buy me 15 kinds of chocolates and cookies,” she said.
She said 15 because it was the biggest number she knew. Sounds like enough. Enough to fill her belly, enough to bring back the world she knew. But there is nothing to buy. There is nothing.
Where is your human nature? Look at her. Then tell me what justice looks like.
Killed after five days of hunger
I watched a video that broke my heart. A man mourned the bodies of his seven families. In despair, he shouted, “We are hungry.”
They had been hungry for a few days, and then an Israeli surveillance drone hit a tent near the Al-Tabin school in North Daraj, North Gaza.
“This is the young man I’m raising,” the man in the video cried. The last time I touched their heads, “Look at what they became.”
Some people still don’t understand. This is not whether we have money or not. This is about Complete lack of food. Even if you are a Gaza millionaire now, you can’t find bread. You can’t find a bag of rice or a can of milk. The market is empty. The shop was destroyed. The shopping mall has been flattened. The shelves are not naked – they are gone.
We used to grow our own food. Gaza used to export fruits and vegetables; we sent strawberries to Europe. Our prices are the cheapest in the area.
One kilogram (2.2 pounds) of grapes or apples? Three Shekels ($0.90). One kilogram of chickens from Gaza farm? Nine Shekels ($2.70). Now, we can’t find an egg.
Previous: Khan Younis’ large watermelon weighs 21 kg (46 lbs) and costs 18 Shekels ($5). Today: The same watermelon will cost $250 – if you can find it.
Once considered a luxury fruit, the avocado is grown by Al-Mawasi, Khan Younis and Rafah. They used to spend one dollar per kilogram. We are also self-sufficient in dairy products – cheese and yogurt are made from locals with shuaya.
Our children are not spoiled – they just have basic rights. Breakfast means milk. Sandwich with cheese. One boiled egg. Now, everything is cut off.
No matter how I explain it to the children, they can’t grasp the term “famine” or “price rise.” They just know that their belly is empty.
Even seafood – once a staple in the Gaza diet – disappeared. Despite strict fishing restrictions, we used to send fish to the West Coast. Now, even our sea is quiet.
With all the respect that deserves, you haven’t tasted the coffee before you taste the Mazaj coffee in Gaza.
It has the power you can feel in your bones.
This is not a prediction. The famine is now. Most of us are displaced. unemployment. funeral.
If we eat one meal a day, we eat it tonight. This is not a feast. It’s rice. pasta. Maybe soup. Canned beans.
You keep it in the storage room as a spare. Here, they are very luxurious.
Most days we only drink water, that’s it. When hunger gets too much, we scroll through old photos, pictures of past meals to remember what life used to be like.
Hungry during the exam
As always, our college exams are online because the campus is rubble.
We are genocide. But, we are trying to learn.
I’m a second grader.
We just completed the final exam for the first semester. We are surrounded by hunger, drones, constant fear. This is not what people think of as college.
We took the exam on an empty stomach under the screams of fighter planes. We tried to remember the dates while forgetting the last time we tasted the bread.
Every day, I talk to my friends Huda, Mariam and Esraa on WhatsApp. We checked each other and asked the same questions over and over again:
“What did you eat today?”
“Can you even concentrate?”
These are our conversations – not about lectures or assignments, but about hunger, headaches, dizziness and the way we are still standing. One person said, “My stomach hurts so much.” Another person said, “I almost broke down when I stood up.”
Nevertheless, we keep moving forward. Our last exam was on July 15th. We stick with it not because we are strong, but because we have no choice. We don’t want to lose a semester. But, compared to the truth, it even feels small.
Study while you are hungry and stare at your soul.
One day, during the exam, an air raid hit our neighbors. The explosion shook the wall.
A moment ago, I was wondering how hungry I was. After a moment, I had nothing.
I didn’t run.
I stayed at my desk and continued to study. Not because I’m OK, but because I have no choice.
They hungry us and blame us
Let me know that the people of Gaza starve to death with a purpose. We are unfortunate – we are victims of war crimes.
Open the intersection. Let aid input. Let the food in. Let the medicine enter.
Gaza does not need sympathy. We can rebuild. We can recover. But first, stop hungry.
Killing, hunger and siege are not only conditions – they are the actions that force us. Language reveals those who are trying to hide who is responsible.
Therefore, we will continue to say: We are killed by Israeli occupation. We were hungry by Israel. We are surrounded by Israeli occupations.
