"The reality in Gaza is indescribable", says 44-year-old Ahmad Katawi from Gaza City. "Our life is a tragedy, we are trying to survive, not knowing if we will succeed. We may survive, but our souls are long dead", the man says in a telephone conversation with DW.
The war has been going on for 19 months, and in early March, Israel blocked all humanitarian and commercial deliveries to the Gaza Strip. "The daily search for food fills all our time, we try to save something for the coming days. "We eat modestly," he says.
Aid agencies have repeatedly warned that the risk of malnutrition is huge, with borders closed, bakeries closed and prices of basic food items skyrocketing. Small quantities of vegetables can still be found in the markets, but they are no longer affordable for most people, as many Gazans no longer have any income. A kilogram of tomatoes, a staple of Palestinian cuisine, now costs around 30 shekels (7 euros) - up from 1 to 3 shekels before the war. A kilogram of sugar costs more than 60 shekels.
"Now our lives depend almost entirely on canned goods," says Katawi, adding that cooking is also a challenge for another reason - the lack of gas. "There is no wood to light a fire, so we burn whatever we can find: clothes, shoes, everything. This is our daily life."
"There is no safe place left"
"Never in the history of Gaza have we been in such a situation", Amjad Shawa, director of the Palestinian Network of Non-Governmental Organizations (PNGO), told DW by phone from Gaza City. "This is a catastrophe. We are being hit by airstrikes and artillery, they are attacking tents and shelters - there is no safe place left. Apart from that, there is simply no food, everyone is starving, including us. There is almost nothing."
According to Shawa, people feel like they are being pushed deeper and deeper into a corner, with no end in sight. "And the worst thing for us as humanitarian workers is to feel that your hands are tied and that you can't do anything, you have nothing to give people – except for a little hope."
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns that the health system is "on the verge of collapse, overwhelmed by the high number of casualties and working harder due to the total blockade that has cut off access to essential medicines, vaccines and medical equipment".
The UN World Food Programme recently announced that it had exhausted its food supplies for Gaza and had distributed its last remaining supplies to the community kitchens that cater to the most vulnerable, as well as the last of the flour to the bakeries.
"On 31 March, all 25 bakeries supported by the World Food Programme closed as flour and cooking fuel ran out," the UN agency said in a statement. "The same week, the food packages distributed to families with two weeks of food rations were exhausted. There is also concern about the lack of safe drinking water, and since there is no longer anything to cook with, people are forced to look for objects to burn to prepare food."
Living in constant fear
"The worry about how to provide for our loved ones overshadows everything," said Mahmoud Hassouna, a resident of the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, in a telephone conversation with DW. The 24-year-old was displaced at the start of the war in 2023, when his home was destroyed by Israeli bombing.
He says he spends his days searching for firewood, which is increasingly difficult to find as most trees have been cut down or destroyed by the bombing. Many people risk entering houses half-destroyed by the bombing to take a door or a wooden object. Hasuna also helps her mother prepare food. "We only eat canned food. We don't have enough money to buy vegetables, which are sold at ungodly prices in the market," Hasuna adds.
"I spent almost two years of my life under bombing, killing and death. "I don't even know myself anymore," the Palestinian said.
The ceasefire, which began in January and lasted until early March, brought some relief to Gazans and allowed aid agencies to replenish their supplies. However, the situation quickly deteriorated again when Israel violated the ceasefire and resumed its offensive on March 18. The Israeli government had previously ordered the closure of all border crossings and the suspension of all humanitarian and commercial supplies to Gaza.
Israel is applying "maximum pressure"
The blockade is part of a "maximum pressure" strategy that Israeli officials say is aimed at forcing Hamas to release the remaining hostages and ultimately defeat the Islamist group. Israeli officials accuse Hamas of stealing aid for its own needs.
At the same time, aid agencies and the United Nations accuse Israel of using humanitarian and food aid as a political tool. This is a potential war crime that affects Gaza's entire population of 2.2 million.
This week, the UN's under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, Tom Fletcher, reminded Israel that "international law is unequivocal: As an occupying power, Israel must allow humanitarian aid in. Aid and the civilian lives it saves should never be a bargaining chip."
As the war progressed, the population of Gaza became almost entirely dependent on aid and commercial supplies from outside. The ongoing displacement of people and the establishment by the Israeli military of a large buffer zone in the north, along the eastern border and in the southern part of the coastal strip have deprived Palestinians of access to the most fertile agricultural land in Gaza.
"Simply put, Israel is not only not allowing food to enter Gaza, but it has also created a situation where Palestinians cannot grow their own food and cannot fish," Gavin Kelleher, an aid worker with the Norwegian Refugee Council who recently returned from a mission in Gaza, told a briefing.
On Thursday, it was reported that the latest strikes had hit residential buildings and tents housing displaced people, especially in Rafah and eastern Gaza City. Aid agencies estimate that more than 423,000 people in Gaza have been displaced again and have no safe place to go.
For Mahmoud Hassouna, it is a nightmare: "My only wish is not to be displaced again. Secondly, I want this insane war to stop," he told DW.
Last night, Israel decided to expand its offensive in the Gaza Strip. At the same time, a new plan for the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza was approved. It is not clear when it will come into effect.
Author: Tanya Kremer