Shaimaa reports exclusively for BRAVE NEW EUROPE from Gaza, finding that media claims that the Israeli-enforced famine is being brought to an end are not true.
Shaimaa Eid is a journalist based in Gaza. Help support her to survive the genocide and continue to work as a journalist by donating to her directly: click here for full details. Read her last article for BRAVE NEW EUROPE on Gaza’s survival economy here. Email info@braveneweurope.com for more information.
Shaimaa has just published a booklet “Testimonies of Hunger, Destruction, and Massacres – The War Through the Eyes of Gaza’s Inhabitants”. You can obtain it HERE
Despite Israeli media claims about breaking the famine in the Gaza Strip and opening border crossings to humanitarian aid, the reality on the ground tells a completely different story. The famine is ongoing and in fact, worsening by the day amid severe food shortages, widespread food insecurity, and growing scenes of hunger and death across the streets of the Strip.
Symbolic and Dangerous Airdrops
The airdrops carried out by some countries to deliver aid to Gaza have become more of a media spectacle than an effective humanitarian operation. Most of these parcels fall in areas designated as “red” military zones under Israeli control where civilians are prohibited from approaching. While these parcels contain food that could save lives, reaching them is often a near-suicidal act, as Israeli forces open fire on anyone who attempts to get close.
The other portion of these airdrops – very limited in number – lands in densely populated residential areas, but they meet only a small fraction of the needs of displaced families. Often, they cause harm by falling on the tents of the displaced, worsening their suffering instead of easing it. Additionally, some parcels fall near the “Netzarim Corridor,” a highly sensitive military zone controlled by Israeli forces, making them completely inaccessible.
Aid Trucks: Between Chaos and Looting
As for the aid trucks entering through Gaza’s crossings, they meet the needs of only a small fraction of the population. Their entry is tightly controlled by Israel, which deliberately creates chaos around them—by bombing the vicinity of distribution points or targeting those assigned to protect the convoys. As a result, these areas often turn into scenes of disorder, looting, and a brutal struggle where only the strongest manage to get anything.
Amid this reality, aid distribution has effectively turned into a black market. Certain individuals or groups seize large portions of the aid through distribution centres in central and southern Gaza, only to resell them at exorbitant prices that most families cannot afford especially with work at a standstill and no income. Key points where aid trucks are expected to arrive, such as Zikim, Nabulsi Point, and Morag, have become hotspots for attacks and looting. From there, aid is stolen and later sold at inflated prices far beyond what people can pay, while the majority are left waiting for a meal that never arrives.
The U.S. Envoy’s Visit: Another Staged Display
When U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, visited American aid centres in the Gaza Strip, the scene suddenly appeared orderly. No Israeli gunfire, no bombardment near the distribution sites. Everything seemed as if “all is well.” But it was merely a temporary performance, expertly staged by Israel for the cameras. Once he left, things returned to their grim reality: chaos, killings, and starvation.
The Elderly and Children: The Forgotten Ones
Far from media claims, famine continues to claim the lives of children in particular those who cannot reach aid distribution centres due to their distant locations or the danger surrounding them. Many are unable to walk or lack access to transportation, while others are too afraid to leave their homes because of ongoing shelling or the presence of looters. In this grim reality, the most vulnerable are left to face their fate caught between hunger and fear.
Hospitals, despite their limited resources, continue to record daily deaths caused by hunger or hunger-related ill-health. Countless individuals collapse in the streets from extreme exhaustion, with no one to assist them or even carry them to a safe shelter. These tragic scenes repeat themselves — images filled with pain and abandonment — yet they rarely reach international media in a way that reflects the full extent of the crisis.
The famine continues… while the international community remains a silent observer
What Israeli media promote as the absence of famine is nothing but a media deception. On the ground, people in Gaza are living a real catastrophe – famine ravaging their bodies, chaos disrupting their lives, an occupation besieging them, and an international community watching silently.
The Gaza Strip today is like a large prison without food, where Israel controls who enters and who leaves, who eats and who starves, who lives and who dies. Amid this complex system of humiliation, starvation, and concealment, no scene of “aid” can hide the truth: the famine in Gaza has not been broken; it is worsening. The so-called “humanitarian aid” is merely a mask that conceals a slow genocide.
Be the first to comment