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STORY: GAZA / FOOD SHORTAGES
TRT: 04:43
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / ARABIC / NATS
DATELINE: 07 MAY 2025, GAZA CITY
1. Various shots, Al-Wahda Street in central Gaza City, where displaced persons' tents line both sides of the road
2. Wide shot, a truck distributing rice meals to displaced people in a camp in central Gaza City
3. Various shots, dozens of families and their children gathered around a truck distributing free food
4. Various shots, children standing in line holding empty containers, waiting for them to be filled with rice
5. Various shots, Abu Ouda, who was unable to get food due to overcrowding
6. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Wijdan Abu Ouda, a displaced woman from Beit Hanoun:
"When they come to distribute food, the entire camps rush toward it. We are living through a real famine, and everyone in the camps feels entitled to this food. The quantity being distributed isn’t enough for families or our children. Today, free food was distributed—some tents received it, others did not. How can such a small amount of food be enough? We have no flour, no vegetables, nothing else to sustain us."
7. Med shot, empty containers waiting to be filled with food for the displaced
8. Various shots, rice being poured into the containers of displaced people
9. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Hamad Abu Jarad, displaced man from Jabalia:
"As you can see, the children are standing in line holding their containers waiting for food, and we’re unable to provide water or food. Many people are still waiting here, along with hundreds more inside and outside the camp - everyone is looking for a loaf of bread or a bite to stave off hunger."
10. Various shots, residents and children waiting to have their empty containers filled with food
11. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Atef Marouf, a displaced man from Beit Lahia:
"We’ve been here since six in the morning waiting for a plate of free food, and in the end, we didn’t get any. The children are waiting for food and water, and people have no means to live - no flour, no sugar, no oil, nothing else. We call on the United Nations to intervene and open the crossings into Gaza. We’re exhausted and have dropped below zero because of this suffering."
12. Various shots, residents and children waiting to have their empty containers filled with food
Hunger continues to plague the Gaza Strip, where residents stand in long queues for hours in hopes of receiving less than half a kilogram of rice. The population struggles to meet even the most basic living needs, while relief organizations face severe difficulties operating due to the near-total closure of border crossings.
On May 6, the United Nations stated that the aid available for distribution in Gaza has been "exhausted" and that the humanitarian operation is "choked" due to the stringent restrictions imposed by Israel on the entry of supplies. Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), described the situation in Gaza as “harsh, brutal, and inhumane,” noting that Israel had verbally presented the humanitarian team with a plan to shut down the current aid system and replace it with a mechanism under the conditions of the Israeli military.
On the ground, footage from central Gaza City captures harrowing scenes of children, women, and men lining up with empty containers in front of aid trucks, while feelings of despair and helplessness dominate the atmosphere in the camps. Wijdan Abu Ouda, a displaced woman from Beit Hanoun, said: “We are living through a real famine, and everyone in the camps feels entitled to this food. The quantity being distributed isn’t enough for families or our children. Today, free food was distributed - some tents received it, others did not. How can such a small amount of food be enough? We have no flour, no vegetables, nothing else to sustain us."
Hamad Abu Jarad, a displaced person from Jabalia, added: "As you can see, the children are standing in line holding their containers waiting for food, and we’re unable to provide water or food. Many people are still waiting here, along with hundreds more inside and outside the camp - everyone is looking for a loaf of bread or a bite to stave off hunger."
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization warned of worsening child malnutrition in the territory. WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris reported that nearly 10,000 children in Gaza have suffered from severe acute malnutrition since the beginning of the year, including 1,397 in critical condition. She noted that one in five children is unable to complete treatment due to displacement or lack of access to healthcare centers.
Amid these dire conditions, residents continue to plead for the crossings to be opened and for aid to be allowed in. Atef Marouf, a displaced man from Beit Lahia, said: "We’ve been here since six in the morning waiting for a plate of free food, and in the end, we didn’t get any. The children are waiting for food and water, and people have no means to live - no flour, no sugar, no oil, nothing else. We call on the United Nations to intervene and open the crossings into Gaza. We’re exhausted and have dropped below zero because of this suffering."
