Study: 64% of Gaza residents eat weed and expired food to satisfy hunger

The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Observatory confirmed that more than 71% of the sample of a study it conducted in the Gaza Strip reported that they were suffering from severe levels of hunger, in light of Israel’s use of starvation as a weapon to punish Palestinian civilians.

The Observatory explained that it conducted an analytical study that included a sample of 1,200 people in Gaza to determine the effects of the humanitarian crisis suffered by the residents of the Strip in the midst of the ongoing Israeli war of genocide since the seventh of last October.

The results of the study showed that 98% of the respondents said that they suffer from insufficient food consumption, while about 64% of them reported that they eat grass, fruits, immature food, and expired materials to satisfy their hunger.

The study monitored that the rate of access to water, including drinking water, bathing and cleaning water, is 1.5 liters per person per day in the Gaza Strip, that is, 15 liters less than the basic water requirements for the level of survival according to international Sphere standards.

The study also addressed the repercussions of malnutrition and the lack of safe drinking water, as 66% of the study sample said that they are suffering or have suffered during the current month from cases of intestinal diseases, diarrhea, and skin rashes.

The study included the Euro-Mediterranean Observatory transmitting testimonies from doctors, who spoke of an increase in the rate of deaths from heart attacks and fainting in the areas of Gaza City and its north, which are witnessing a more severe deterioration in the humanitarian crisis and hunger rates.

The Israeli “war of starvation” took extremely dangerous turns, including cutting off all food supplies and bombing and destroying bakeries, factories, food stores, water stations and tanks.

Israel deliberately targeted electrical generators and solar energy units on which commercial establishments, restaurants, and civil institutions depend, in order to maintain the minimum possible level of operation.

Israel's attacks also destroyed the agricultural area east of Gaza, flour stores, and fishermen's boats, in addition to supply centers for relief organizations, especially UNRWA, the largest source of humanitarian aid in the Strip.

In light of international pressure, Israel restricted the entry of humanitarian supplies from Egypt into the Gaza Strip through the Rafah land crossing, and was limited to an average of 100 trucks per day, which rates do not compare with the average load of 500 trucks that entered the Strip to meet humanitarian needs before October 7. the past.

Although a limited amount of food aid was allowed to enter, no commercial food imports were delivered, leaving the residents of the Gaza Strip in dire need of food in light of the collective punishment approach imposed on them.

The Euro-Med Monitor said that international humanitarian law strictly prohibits the use of starvation as a method of war. As the occupying power in Gaza, Israel is obligated under international humanitarian law to provide for the needs and protection of the population.

He pointed out that the “Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court” stipulates that deliberately starving civilians “by depriving them of materials indispensable for their survival, including deliberately obstructing relief supplies” amounts to a “war crime.”

Euro-Med called for decisive international action to impose a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and prevent further deterioration of the situation in civilian lives by providing fair and unrestricted access to basic and relief materials to the entire Gaza Strip, and making necessary supplies of food, water, medical supplies and fuel to meet the needs of the population.

The extent of the development and progression of the events, “security-related” and even military steps, can simply be observed in some details on the front and back of the Jordanian border with Syria, especially after the Jordanian Armed Forces announced the identity of 9 members of a drug and weapons smuggling gang network in a group photo taken of them with their goods. The confiscation was published through the media.

The picture reveals the identities of 9 detainees, and it is quite clear that they hold Syrian nationality, and their pictures appeared miserable and more likely to be affected by living in the rugged desert on the border between the two countries for several days.

Publishing the photo is a direct indication that the file will be dropped, even if it is under a purely criminal title, meaning illegal weapons smuggling. However, its roll may certainly end with some political implications.

This is what actually happened as of Sunday, with noticeable activity on the front of the official spokesman for the Jordanian government, Dr. Muhannad Mobaideen, who appeared in two recorded conversations blaming the Syrian regime’s government for its negligence, and hinting that the decision for open confrontation is determined by the Jordanian army.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights announced, at dawn on Tuesday, the killing of a high-ranking Syrian drug dealer , in a Jordanian air operation that was not officially announced by the Jordanian Armed Forces.

According to the Observatory, the aforementioned merchant, whose name was explicitly mentioned, was killed by a Jordanian plane that bombed the place where he was located in the Suwayda Governorate, deep in Syria.

It was pointed out that the murdered drug lord was believed to have strong ties to the Syrian security services and the Lebanese Hezbollah.

In order to avoid the sensitivities of those phrases mentioned in the Syrian Observatory’s statement, the Jordanian authorities clearly avoided officially announcing the air strike. But it probably occurred after a battle that lasted for more than 12 hours on Monday, and ended with the wounding of a number of Jordanian border guards, the killing and wounding, and then the arrest of a number of members of the gang that smuggled high-quality weapons this time, in addition to a large quantity of drugs, before they Reuters, citing Jordanian intelligence sources, adopts the account of the raid and accuses Hezbollah and Iranian militias.

The impression is strong until this moment that Jordan, in its political and military statements, has begun to speak explicitly, and not insinuatingly, about deterring and persecuting those armed groups, formations and militias because their goal is no longer limited to drug smuggling, but rather to destabilize the security and stability of the Kingdom.

The phrase deterrence and prosecution here is clear, and in the political and security reading, it means that Jordan has deterrence calculations, meaning building an information and intelligence engagement base with the sites, leaders, and leaders that establish this forbidden trade, which is described as a terrorist trade.

All of this necessarily means operations deep inside Syria. If what the Syrian Observatory said at dawn on Tuesday is accurate and true, it can be said that these operations have begun, and that the bombing or air strike may be followed by other operations to strike what the Jordanian authorities call the nests of the death trade who threaten to destabilize the security and stability of the Kingdom. Which means that the situation is now very tense and sensitive on the border.