In the Gaza Strip, families have reached a breaking point as relentless bombardment, blockade, and deprivation tighten their grip. Nearly every family now survives on a single meal each day, while some go entire days without eating at all. Adults regularly skip meals to leave a few scraps of food for their children and elderly relatives. With every passing day, the humanitarian crisis deepens, leaving Gaza’s exhausted population wondering how much longer they can endure.
The United Nations World Food Programme and its partners indicate that the scale of deprivation is unprecedented. This situation is unmatched in the region’s modern history. Each day, hundreds of thousands of people risk death simply to find a little bread or a handful of lentils. As the blockade continues, Gaza’s basic services collapse, and desperation spreads among families who have nowhere left to turn.
A DAILY STRUGGLE TO EAT
For many households in Gaza, daily life has become a grim cycle of hunger and anxiety. Most families can only afford or access one meal per day. This meal often consists of nutritionally poor food like thin broth, boiled rice, or a small piece of bread. In some cases, families survive on nothing more than duqqa, a mixture of olive oil and herbs. Mothers and fathers frequently stay hungry so their children might eat a few bites. Despite these sacrifices, acute malnutrition is spreading at a frightening pace. Since January, an average of 112 children have been admitted each day for severe hunger-related illness.
When night falls, parents must find ways to comfort their hungry children. One mother described her nightly ritual: telling her children to drink water and close their eyes in hopes they might forget their hunger long enough to sleep. She admitted she does the same, praying for morning to bring any small relief.
RISKING EVERYTHING FOR FOOD
As food becomes scarcer, people in Gaza face life-threatening risks to obtain supplies. They endure danger even for the smallest amounts of provisions. Since late May, at least 549 Palestinians have died and more than 4,000 have been injured trying to collect aid. According to Johnathan Whittall of the UN humanitarian affairs office in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, many of these casualties have been shot. Others have been shelled while approaching distribution sites. These locations were deliberately set up inside militarized zones by US- and Israeli-backed organizations operating outside traditional UN frameworks.
Families know the risks but feel they have no other options. One Palestinian father explained that his children cry from hunger every night, leaving him no choice but to walk to distribution points. He spends long hours waiting, hoping he will survive the journey and return with something to eat.
SYSTEMIC COLLAPSE
While families struggle to find food, Gaza’s essential services are failing almost entirely. With fuel almost exhausted, only 40 percent of drinking water facilities remain operational. This means over 93 percent of households face severe water insecurity. Even when water is available, it is often contaminated and dangerous to drink.
Fuel shortages also cripple the health sector. Hospitals are running out of electricity to power medical equipment and refrigeration for life-saving medicines. As a result, doctors and nurses face impossible decisions, forced to ration care and supplies. For sick and injured people, even minor illnesses now carry life-threatening risks.
Since 19 May, a small trickle of aid has returned to Gaza. On a single day in June, nine trucks of medical supplies crossed into the territory. Yet humanitarian organizations agree this is nowhere near enough to address the immense need.
DISPLACEMENT ON AN UNPRECEDENTED SCALE
Bombardment resumed in March after a brief ceasefire, displacing over 684,000 Palestinians in just a few months. For most of these families, this is not the first time they have lost their homes. More than 82 percent of Gaza is now designated as militarized or subject to displacement orders. People have nowhere safe to go.
Families are forced to take shelter in overcrowded camps, ruined buildings, and even open streets. Schools that once offered children an education have become makeshift shelters filled with exhausted families. Kamla, a teacher with the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), described these schools as empty shells devoid of any sense of safety or dignity.
Rapidly deteriorating conditions in these shelters threaten to spread disease and further undermine already fragile health. Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, said no shelter materials have entered Gaza since early March. Although some aid has trickled in, supplies like tents, tarpaulins, and timber remain prohibited. The UN holds nearly one million shelter items ready to distribute, but Israeli authorities have yet to authorize their entry.
THE EMOTIONAL TOLL OF CONSTANT DISPLACEMENT
Repeated displacement inflicts profound psychological damage. Children suffer deep trauma, with some expressing suicidal thoughts or fantasies of dying to escape hunger. One mother shared that her daughter dreams of joining her deceased father because she believes he now has food. This growing despair reflects the mental health catastrophe unfolding alongside the physical crisis.
Aid workers report that mental health services are overwhelmed and under-resourced. Neven, a psychosocial worker with UNRWA, explained that with limited tools, her team must constantly adapt to provide any form of support. While aid workers struggle to meet overwhelming needs, their efforts are constrained by fuel shortages and the blockade.
AID WORKERS AS SYMBOLS OF HOPE
Despite impossible challenges, UNRWA staff remain dedicated to helping Gaza’s displaced and hungry population. Hussein, a UNRWA worker in Gaza City, described how the community looks to them not only for aid but also as symbols of resilience. They are seen as lifelines, pillars of stability, and the last connection to a world that still recognizes Palestinians’ dignity.
Yet humanitarian organizations are nearing their breaking point. Fuel to transport aid is dwindling. Supplies arrive in too-small quantities to make a difference. Even the most committed workers acknowledge that the situation is becoming untenable.
THE ROLE OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
Humanitarian leaders have repeatedly called on Israel and its partners to allow unrestricted aid access. They stress that every day of delay increases suffering and claims more lives. The UN, Red Crescent societies, and countless NGOs have prepared shipments of food, medicine, and shelter supplies that could save lives if permitted entry.
Diplomatic efforts have so far failed to secure lasting agreements to protect civilians or guarantee humanitarian access. International pressure remains essential to prevent further catastrophe and uphold international law.
A HUMANITARIAN CRISIS WITH NO END IN SIGHT
The blockade and bombardment have transformed daily life in Gaza into an unending emergency. Parents now spend their days searching for food and nights comforting terrified children. Families have learned to live without clean water, medicine, or even the certainty of surviving another day.
Yet amid this devastation, the spirit of Gaza’s people persists. They show remarkable courage and solidarity, supporting neighbors, sharing scarce supplies, and holding fast to hope. Aid workers, too, continue their work against unimaginable odds, driven by the belief that every life still has value.
CALL FOR URGENT ACTION
The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is a test of the world’s conscience. No population should endure such hunger, displacement, and fear. While international law protects civilians in conflict zones, those protections have failed Gaza’s people repeatedly.
If the blockade and bombardment continue, the region will face consequences that extend far beyond Gaza’s borders. The international community must act decisively to end the blockade, guarantee aid access, and support an immediate ceasefire. Only then can families begin to heal and rebuild their lives.
Every day, more lives are lost to hunger, violence, and despair. The time for statements and resolutions has passed. It is time for action that matches the urgency of this unfolding tragedy.