top
Palestine
Palestine
Indybay
Indybay
Indybay
Regions
Indybay Regions North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area California United States International Americas Haiti Iraq Palestine Afghanistan
Topics
Newswire
Features
From the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature

Starving Gazans Survive On Grass

by IOL (reposted)
Jindiya Abu Amra's heart breaks when she looks at the sunken faces of her hungry children.

"When I find nothing, we eat this grass," Abu Amra, a mother of eight, told the Sunday Times on December 14, pointing at the wild grass that grows along the streets of Gaza Strip.
She now goes out with her 12-year-old daughter Rabab every morning to scrounge for the types of grass that the family can find edible.

"We had one meal today - khobbeizeh," said the 43-year-old mother, showing the leaves of a plant growing wild in the streets.

Despite international criticism, Israel closes all commercial crossings with the impoverished Gaza Strip, home to 1.6 million people.

UN officials affirm that people are left to eat grass because the densely-populated territory is starving.

"Two weeks ago, for the first time in 60 years, we ran out of food," said John Ging, director of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Gaza.

"We used to get 70 to 80 trucks per day, now we are getting 15 trucks a day, and only when the border opens."

UNRWA, which offers handouts to nearly half of Gaza's population, has only four days of food in stock for distribution among the most desperate.

Eight British rights organizations have warned in a joint report that Gazans are living through the worst humanitarian crisis in 40 years due to the Israeli closure.

More
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!

Donate

$155.00 donated
in the past month

Get Involved

If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.

Publish

Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.

IMC Network