Gaza, children are skeletons

With the situation in Gaza now at catastrophic levels, ActionAid calls for immediate and unrestricted humanitarian access, allowing for the large-scale distribution of aid through the United Nations—including UNRWA—and humanitarian agencies with proven experience and capacity to respond. World leaders must act now. Across Gaza, ActionAid staff and local partners continue to support communities, even as they are exhausted and facing dire conditions of their own.

A mother told ActionAid: "Even though I searched the entire Arabic dictionary, there's no word that can describe the horror we're experiencing. I speak with the weight of hunger on my chest. It's a real tragedy. As a working woman, hunger exhausts me more than the work itself. Every day I return home empty-handed, with nothing to feed my children . Bread is out of reach, and tears are no longer enough to calm the children. Hunger isn't temporary: it lives with us."

This is a deliberately and systematically prolonged famine. Alaa Abu Samra , head of ActionAid's emergency response in Gaza, says: "People collapse in the streets because of the hunger. Mothers give their babies sugar water instead of milk. Children are emaciated. Food is unobtainable or unaffordable. The international community is complicit. Where are the aid trucks? Where are the promised sanctions? Instead of bringing relief, they have signed a death sentence. Gaza is a nightmare, and this must end."

Despite the worsening crisis, Israeli authorities continue to systematically block, restrict, and militarize the distribution of humanitarian aid , in violation of international law. The current system undermines the fundamental principles of humanitarian action—impartiality, neutrality, independence—and directly contributes to the famine.

Faten Abu Shamalah , project coordinator for ActionAid's partner Wefaq, reports: " Agricultural lands are inaccessible, markets destroyed, aid blocked . People survive on canned food, when it can be found. Fresh vegetables are extremely rare and in any case out of reach for most of us. People drink contaminated water, and diseases are spreading. In desperation, they cook with wood, plastic, even garbage, due to the total lack of fuel and electricity."

Last night, the bombings in Gaza were heavy. But today, fame is the real weapon. ActionAid calls for an immediate ceasefire and full and unhindered humanitarian access.

AP Photo/Fatima Shbair/LaPresse

Tags:
• Gaza
• war
• Israel
• Gaza Strip