NEWS AND COMMENT: The Times tells us that children eat rotten food (and become sick); adult civilians hunt cats and famine is coming to Gaza.
The Al Jazeera website tells us that the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees has warned that nowhere near enough provisions are entering besieged Gaza. The situation leaves 40% of the population of Gaza at risk of famine. The Israelis are curbing much-needed aid trucks entering the enclave.
The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees recently warned that the besieged enclave is “grappling with catastrophic hunger”. It reiterated its call for a humanitarian ceasefire but IDF (Israel Defense Forces) bombs keep raining down from the north to the south. Catastrophic disease is also imminent.
RELATED: No cat food in Gaza since the war began on Oct 7
The IDF ordered Gaza’s civilians to migrate from the north to the south of the strip while they bombed the north but now, they are bombing the south. It seems that there is nowhere safe in Gaza for the Palestinian civilians. Israel has committed to continuing for the foreseeable future. Are the Israeli’s hellbent on destroying Gaza? Who will rebuild it?
I have not got hard detail about Gaza and civilians killing and eating cats and dogs but perhaps it leaves little to the imagination. Perhaps you don’t need details. There are stray cats and dogs in Gaza. They might have been community cats or they might be formerly owned cats but their owner has been killed as an estimated 22,000 civilians (Palestinian estimate) have been killed in the shelling and bombing by Israel.
And now the cats and dogs can only serve one last purpose: to feed the surviving humans. This is not how cat domestication was meant to pan out. It’s an example of how humankind can totally screw up the domestication of cats and dogs through its idiocy. I’m angry because innocent animals are dying needlessly in large numbers. No doubt the cats and dogs are also starving because there is no dog and cat food on the strip any more. The cats and dogs of Ukraine are also suffering tremendously. It’s unforgivable of humankind. Shame on us all.
Update from The Sunday Times which I can read today on New Year’s Eve. Let’s hope the New Year brings better luck for the Palestinians and of course the Israelis.
Most food markets are closed and food is sold when it becomes available presumably from shipments coming in on lorries from Egypt. There is massive inflation in Gaza. A kilo of rice costs £8 (sterling) if you can find it. Banks are closed and even the middle class are going hungry. There is never enough food to go around a family. 1.5 L of water is provided for each family when 15 L is required. That is the total amount of water they have for drinking and washing et cetera.
More than a million Palestinians have fled to the south to places such as al-Mawasi. It stinks of rubbish and toxic smoke. Once again there is never enough food. A mother says that her children have scabies, diarrhoea and lice. She doesn’t know where her husband is. It’s an encampment where there is no wood to make fires. That was long gone. They search for plastic, bottles, crates. The need to burn it to keep warm. The sound of drones and warplanes are high above.
They constantly look for food. Most people have nothing perhaps a few cans of beans or tuna.
