Arrr, scurvy dogs be plunderin' bakeries, leavin' landlubbers to starve. 'Tis a hunger crisis on the high seas!
2024-02-28
Arrr mateys! The bread bakers in Gaza City be pillaged and plundered, makin' families scavenge for crumbs like rats. A poor soul in a wheelchair be cryin', "We be starvin' like scurvy dogs on a desert isle!" Aye, tis a sad tale indeed.
In the language of a 17th-century pirate, the wreckage of Kamel Ajour's smushed-up Gaza bakery be tellin' one reason why poor souls in the north of that bombarded enclave be havin' to munch on raw cactus leaves after near five moons of Israel's military rumblin'.Bread be vital to easing Palestinian hunger, with one in six young'uns in northern Gaza wastin' from hunger, but most bakeries be in ruins from Israeli bombardment and scarce be the aid shipments of flour."We be havin' five bakeries. This bakery be blown to bits and the others be damaged. Three bakeries be able to get back to work," said Ajour, in a video nabbed by Reuters in Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza City up north.A crane be liftin' gear from the rubble that Ajour be hopin' to save. Inside, the metal ovens and trays be jumbled mess among the wreckage.An Israeli ceasefire notion be under consideration by Hamas, allowin' for the import of bakery gear and fuel to fire up the ovens."The most important thing be for there to be a ceasefire and for the bakeries to work again so we can find somethin' to eat, for our wee ones, our kin," said Basel Khairuldeen in Gaza City.With the bakeries destroyed or out of commission for lack of fuel, folk be havin' to bake bread themselves on fires made from wood scavenged from ruined buildings.Even a wee bit of flour be hard to find, or too dear to buy if it be available. People be makin' bread from animal feed and birdseed. Most be sayin' they can only eat once a day at best.Sittin' by a still standin' house in Jabalia, the Awadeya family be chompin' on prickly pear cactus leaves to stave off hunger.While the fruit of prickly pear cactuses be eaten 'round the Mediterranean, the tough, stringy leaves be only ever eaten by animals, mashed up in their feed.Marwan al-Awadeya be in a wheelchair, pickin' off the spines and slicin' off bits of the cactus for himself and two wee bairns in a video from Reuters."We be in a famine. We be depleted of everything. There be nothin' left to eat," he said, mentionin' he'd lost 30 kg from hunger during the clash.The feud started when Hamas fighters stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, causin' 1,200 deaths and takin' 253 hostages, accordin' to Israeli counts. Israel's military campaign has taken 'round 30,000 lives in Hamas-run Gaza.While aid be flowin' into the south of the strip, too slow to avoid a famine even there, it hardly makes its way to the north, further from the main border and only reachable through more active battle zones.On Tuesday, the U.N. humanitarian agency OCHA said a quarter of Gaza folk be an inch from famine, warnin' such a disaster be near certain sans action.Israel be claimin' there be no limit to the aid for Gaza civilians.But OCHA be tellin' the Security Council that relief agencies be facin' "overwhelmin' obstacles" includin' restrictions on movement, closin' of crossings, access denials, and difficult vetting procedures.The Israeli military outfit handlin' aid transfers, COGAT, said on Wednesday that 31 trucks had reached northern Gaza overnight, but had no info on distribution, sayin' it be up to the U.N.Israel be blamin' the shortfall of aid in Gaza on U.N. distribution flubs.Scarce aid shipments to northern Gaza have been chaotic, with convoys often besieged by desperate souls as they roll in.In Gaza City, Umm Ibraheem be prayin' for a ceasefire and for food to start flowin' back to the north."Ye see how folk be starvin', perishin' from hunger and thirst," she said.