In Gaza, food salespeople are a preferential bombing target

On April 27, Samer, a lawyer who became a vegetable salesman to feed his family in Gaza, was killed by an Israeli bombing in Deir El-Balah. He did not wield weapons, did not belong to political factions, just tried to survive – like many. The war pushed him away from justice and launched him into the market, where food became more valuable than gold.

Samer’s death devastated the family. He left three young children and a wife who, now alone, faces hunger, queues for food and the challenge of explaining to children that his father will not return from the market. He is just one of the many Palestinian civilians who lost their lives trying to feed others.

Target: Food

Since the beginning of the war, Israel not only blocks food entry into Gaza – systematically destroys all links in the supply chain. Bakeries, community kitchens, warehouses and markets were bombarded. Fruit salespeople, bakers and cooks are treated as military targets.

Just ten days after Samer’s death, a market and restaurant in one of the busiest streets in the city of Gaza were destroyed, killing at least 33 people. According to the government’s media office in Gaza, 39 food centers and 29 community kitchens have already been hit.

Israel claims that Hamas appropriates help, and western media echoes this justification. But reality on the ground shows that the goal is broader and wider: submitting the entire civilian population to hunger as a weapon of war.

A silent extermination policy

The images of help trucks entering Gaza are, according to residents, “Punishment of Public Relations”. While Israel claims to have allowed the entry of 388 trucks, humanitarian organizations record only 119. Much of the help is looted or prevented from reaching the victims. At least 500 daily trucks would be needed to cover the minimum of needs.

The flour, when it appears, costs $ 450 per bag. Many live with crumbs. Mothers stop eating to feed their children. Parents return home with remains after spending the day hunting food.

Hungry

Hunger is more cruel to the little ones. According to the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, in just 24 hours in May, 26 Palestinians died for innion, including nine children. The Ministry of Health of Gaza has at least 57 children killed by malnutrition since the beginning of March.

Each night, thousands of children sleep with an empty stomach, dreaming of a bite that their parents cannot give. Many never wake up. The world observes – and hesitates.

Complicity and global silence

The deliberate use of hunger as a weapon of war is prohibited by international law and configures war crime. Even so, Western governments follow silents. Some make symbolic threats. None actually acts.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu no longer hides the goal: expelling all Gaza Palestinians. The limited release of food only aims to feed the international narrative that it helps is coming – does not feed the people.

An appeal to the world

Today, in Gaza, the greatest desire is not peace or justice – it is a piece of bread. The bodies become skeletons, the hearts, fragile. But there is still a hope: that someone, somewhere, see and care. May the world finally stop turning the face before this slow, brutal and everyday death.

“When will the world stop closing our eyes to our hunger?” The question echoes between the rubble of Gaza. And the answer so far is silence.