By Osama Alkahlut
GAZA (AA) – A Gazan mother gave date paste to her hungry baby as there is a food shortage due to the ongoing Israeli attacks.
"We have a food shortage problem, food is too expensive, so are vegetables. I have very little milk, so I prepared date paste like this for my son to make him stop crying,” Verda Ahmed Matar told Anadolu.
Matar is just one of the thousands of mothers who were pregnant when the Gaza war started and had to give birth under war conditions.
“There is no food, no milk, we are all in the same situation, everyone in Gaza is suffering from food shortages and hunger,” she added.
The humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where Israeli attacks have been continuing for four months, is deepening day by day. In addition to the many interruptions experienced in the region, access to clean water and food has become very difficult.
Noting that they migrated from the Jabalia Refugee Camp to safer areas, she said the conditions were very poor when she gave birth.
“Israeli forces were in the region, only one doctor was working in the maternity ward at the hospital. There were many patients and the doctor could not reach everyone,” she added.
Israel launched a deadly offensive on Gaza following an Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas, to date killing at least 28,064 Palestinians and injuring 67,611 others, while nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.
The Israeli offensive has left 85% of Gaza's population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.
* Writing by Gozde Bayar