Gaza families scavenge for food as blockade fuels famine crisis

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Gaza families scavenge for food as blockade fuels famine crisis

2025-05-03 17:28 Last Updated At：19:37

As Israel's blockade prevents humanitarian aid from reaching Gaza, rising food prices have forced many residents to survive on spoiled food scavenged from garbage.

The blockade's stranglehold on humanitarian aid has amplified an already dire food crisis. Now, a worsening famine grips the Gaza Strip, stretching from north to south. Recent closures of border crossings have severed access to essential supplies, leaving the region in crisis.

In a crumbling refugee camp in Gaza City, Hesham returned to his makeshift tent with a sack of stale bread fragments slung over his shoulder. Once, he sold these scraps to livestock owners to scrape together a living. Now, they are all his family has to eat.

"As you can see, I collected these bread fragments from garbage bins. I go to the dump to find moldy bread. I used to sell them for ten shekels a bag to feed animals. But now, the ones that are even slightly edible, we eat them ourselves," said Hesham.

Without electricity to preserve food and as rising temperatures quicken its spoilage, families like Hesham's are falling sick from what little they manage to eat. Yet, they remain trapped without access to medical care, their suffering exacerbated by the lack of resources.

"We got stomach and intestine illnesses from eating this bread. My children are sick, I'm sick -- but we have no choice. The worst part is hearing my child cry at night, saying, 'I'm hungry.' All I can do is to soak these hard pieces of bread in water and give them to him. But then he gets sick and needs a doctor. And there's no hospital that will take us," said Hesham.

The humanitarian crisis in Gaza has reached its breaking point. Desperation is driving an increasing number of residents to rely on spoiled food as their only means of survival, highlighting the harrowing toll of the ongoing blockade.

"Many others are surviving on spoiled bread. I know people who search through trash just like I do because we have no other means of survival. Before the war, 20 shekels could feed us for three days. Now, even 100 shekels can't buy enough for two hours. Gaza is no longer livable. It's not fit for human life," Hesham added.

Venezuelan acting president calls for national unity amid complex situation

Venezuela's acting president Delcy Rodriguez said on Sunday that the country is at a critical stage and must achieve national unity, emphasizing that maintaining internal cohesion is of utmost importance.

In a televised address, Rodriguez called on the public to continue trusting the government under the current highly complex political circumstances.

Her statement comes in the wake of a January 3 military operation conducted by the United States, during which Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife were taken into custody and flown out of the country.

The operation resulted in at least 100 fatalities.

Rodriguez, who was sworn in as acting president two days later on January 5, framed her appeal for unity against this backdrop of external intervention.

Meanwhile, Venezuelan Minister of Communication and Information Freddy Nanez denounced the U.S. actions as a "war crime of the 21st century" when speaking at an international cultural event on Sunday.

Nanez condemned not only the January 3 airstrikes but also the associated cyber and electromagnetic attacks.

He accused the United States of violating international law through the forced removal of President Maduro and his wife, while attacks on civilian infrastructure, including medical facilities, represent a flagrant breach of humanitarian norms.

He reiterated that the stigmatization and military attacks against Venezuela are driven by economic interests, particularly the desire to control its abundant natural resources.