For nearly 60 days, Israel has blocked food from Gaza. Palestinians struggle to feed their families

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — For nearly 60 days, no food, fuel, medicine or other item has entered the Gaza Strip, blocked by Israel. Aid groups are running out of food to distribute. Markets are nearly bare. Palestinian families are left struggling to feed their children.

In the sprawling tent camp outside the southern city of Khan Younis, Mariam al-Najjar and her mother-in-law emptied four cans of peas and carrots into a pot and boiled it over a wood fire. They added a little bouillon and spices.

That, with a plate of rice, was the sole meal on Friday for the 11 members of their family, including six children.

Among Palestinians, “Fridays are sacred,” a day for large family meals of meat, stuffed vegetables or other rich traditional dishes, al-Najjar said.

“Now we eat peas and rice,” she said. “We never ate canned peas before the war. Only in this war that has destroyed our lives.”

The around 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza are now mainly living off canned vegetables, rice, pasta and lentils. Meat, milk, cheese and fruit have disappeared. Bread and eggs are scarce. The few vegetables or other items in the market have skyrocketed in price, unaffordable for most.

“We can’t get anything that provides any protein or nutrients,” al-Najjar said.

Israel imposed the blockade on March 2, then shattered a two-month ceasefire by resuming military operations March 18. It said both steps aim to pressure Hamas into releasing hostages. Rights groups call the blockade a “starvation tactic” endangering the entire population and a potential war crime.

Item by item, foods have disappeared, al-Najjar said.

When meat became unavailable, she got canned sardines. Those are gone. They used to receive cartons of milk from the U.N. That ended weeks ago. Once a week, she used to buy tomatoes to give her children a salad. Now she can’t afford tomatoes.

Now, they are on a routine of cans of beans or peas and carrots, she said. When they can't find that, they get lentils or pasta from a charity kitchen. If she finds bread or sugar, she gives her kids bread dunked in tea to stave off their hunger, she said.

“I’m afraid my son’s children will die of hunger,” said Mariam’s mother-in-law Sumaya al-Najjar. The 61-year-old said she and her husband have cancer; she has stopped taking her medication because its unobtainable, and her husband is being treated in a hospital.

Mariam worries how she’ll feed her children when what’s left in Gaza runs out.

“Maybe we’ll eat sand,” she said.

Doctors warn that the lack of variety, protein and other nutrients in children's diet will cause long-term damage to their health.

Dr. Ayman Abu Teir, head of the Therapeutic Feeding department at Khan Younis’ Nasser Hospital, said the number of malnutrition cases has “increased in a very substantial way.” Specialized milk for them has run out, he said. The U.N. said it identified 3,700 children suffering from acute malnutrition in March, up 80% from February.

“Children need the food pyramid for their development,” Abu Teir said: meat, eggs, fish and dairy for their growth, fruits and vegetables to build their immune systems. “These do not exist in Gaza,” he said.

He said a 1-year-old child weighing 10 kilos (22 pounds) needs about 700 calories a day.

The four cans of peas and carrots in the al-Najjars' Friday meal totaled about 1,000 calories, according to label information — not counting the rice they also ate – split among 11 people, including six children between the ages of 6 and 14.

Israel has previously said Gaza had enough aid after a surge in distribution during the ceasefire, and it accuses Hamas of diverting aid for its purposes. Humanitarian workers deny there is significant diversion, saying the U.N. strictly monitors distribution.

On a recent day in a Khan Younis street market, most stalls were empty. Those open displayed small piles of tomatoes, cucumbers, shriveled eggplants and onions. One had a few dented cans of beans and peas. At one of the few working grocery stores, the shelves were bare except for one with bags of pasta.

Tomatoes sell for 50 shekels a kilo, almost $14, compared to less than a dollar before the war.

“I dream of eating a tomato,” said Khalil al-Faqawi, standing in front of the empty stalls.

He said he has nine people to feed. “The children ask for meat, for chicken, for a cookie. We can’t provide it,” he said. “Forget about meat. We’ve got lentils. Great. Thank you very much. What happens when the lentils run out?”

The only vegetables are those grown in Gaza. Israeli troops have destroyed the vast majority of the territory’s farmland and greenhouses or closed them off within military zones where anyone approaching risks being shot.

The remaining farms' production has fallen for lack of water and supplies.

Mahmoud al-Shaer said his greenhouses yield at most 150 kilos (330 pounds) of tomatoes a week compared to 600 kilos (1,300 pounds) before the war.

Even that can’t be sustained, he said. “In two weeks or a month, you won’t find any at all.”

Israel has leveled much of Gaza with its air and ground campaign, vowing to destroy Hamas after its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel. It has killed over 51,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, whose count does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Almost the entire population has been driven from their homes. Hundreds of thousands live in tent camps.

In the Oct. 7 attack, militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251. They still hold 59 hostages after most were released in ceasefire deals.

In Khan Younis, children mobbed the Rafah Charity Kitchen, holding out metal pots. Workers ladled boiled lentils into each one.

Such kitchens are the only alternative to the market. Other food programs shut down under the blockade.

The kitchens also face closure. The World Food Program said Friday it delivered its last food stocks to the 47 kitchens it supports — the biggest in Gaza — which it said will run out of meals to serve within days.

Kitchens can provide only lentils or plain pasta and rice. Hani Abu Qasim, at the Rafah Charity Kitchen, said they have reduced portion size as well.

“These people who depend on us are threatened with starvation if this kitchen closes,” Abu Qasim said.

Keath reported from Cairo.

Mohammad Abu Zeid, 12, tastes the food prepared for a meal in his family tent in Muwasi, on the outskirts of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinian children wait to receive donated food at a distribution center in Muwasi, on the outskirts of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Sumaya Al-Najjar, 60, cuts stale bread to mix with rice to cook over a fire next to her family tent in Muwasi, on the outskirts of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Farmer Ahmed Al-Shaer, 20, holds green chili peppers grown in a greenhouse in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Empty water barrels are placed by the Al-Najjar family as they wait for the drinking water supplier to fill them in Muwasi, on the outskirts of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Farmer Mahmoud Al-Shaer picks tomatoes from crops growing in a greenhouse in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

The Al-Najjar family eats peas with rice in their family tent in Muwasi, on the outskirts of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, Friday, April, 25, 2025(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Tomato crops grow in a greenhouse in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Abeer Abu Shaar, 45, prepares a dish of bread mixed with lentil soup for her son, Ibrahim, 3, in their tent at Muwasi, on the outskirts of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Green chili peppers are displayed for sale at an outdoor food market in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A Palestinian worker holds one of the empty sacks of flour at the World Food Program warehouse in the Nuseirat refugee camp, Gaza Strip, Saturday April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Damaged cans of white beans are displayed for sale on a shelf at Al-Tayebat supermarket in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Sumaya Al-Najjar, 60, left, and Etemad Al-Maghari, 52, pour peas into a pot to cook over a fire next to their tents in Muwasi, on the outskirts of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Empty shelves are seen at Al-Tayyibat supermarket in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, April 24, 2025, amid ongoing food shortages. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Mira Abu Shaar, 5, right, and her older sister, Raghad, 15, hold pots next to their family tent, as they wait for food to be prepared, in Muwasi, on the outskirts of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A World Food Program warehouse is seen empty in the Nuseirat refugee camp, Gaza Strip, Saturday April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A World Food Program warehouse is seen empty in the Nuseirat refugee camp, Gaza Strip, Saturday April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Mohammad Abu Zeid, 12, tastes the food prepared for a meal in his family tent in Muwasi, on the outskirts of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Somaya Al-Najjar, 60, pours frying oil to cook peas in their family tent in Muwasi, on the outskirts of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Green onions are displayed for sale at an outdoor food market in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

The Al-Najjar family prepares for a meal of peas with rice in their family tent in Muwasi, on the outskirts of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, Friday, April, 25, 2025(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Maryam Al-Najjar, 38, opens a can of peas to prepare them for cooking in her family's tent in Muwasi, on the outskirts of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, Friday, April, 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

The Al-Najjar family eats peas with rice in their family tent in Muwasi, on the outskirts of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, Friday, April, 25, 2025(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.

Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.

Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”

Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”

He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”

Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.

Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.

In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.

Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”

Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.

“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.

The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.

The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.

Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.

In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)