Voizenotes from Gaza reveal stressful stories about hunger, crime and a crisis of mental health – the Irish times

“For many families, the day does not begin with breakfast, but with a strenuous question of whether there is anything to eat at all,” says Besan Al Mabhoh (32), a translation student, media worker and mother of three children in Gaza.

“We have alarming lack of essential supplies, especially food and cook gas … the market is almost empty. Basic foods such as flour, rice and canned goods are scarce,” she adds. “Many families cut meals a day and rely on bread and tea if nothing else is available. By the way, a cup of tea [is] considered a luxury because the sugar is too expensive. ”

Al Mabhoh describes her personal situation and says: “I have no food.”

Hunger is widespread because the Gaza has entered its third month of total deposit without food, medicine or other supplies in the enclave.

Israel began the siege on March 2 and said that Hamas wanted to put pressure on the hostages, which she confiscated on October 7, 2023 in his attack on Israel, without making a previously agreed progress for the withdrawal of Israeli troops.

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This was made months after the International Criminal Court on May 2, the International Committee of the Red Cross said that the humanitarian reaction in Gaza was “shortly before the overall collapse”. The Israeli Prime Minister's office did not answer a request for a comment.

Israel also looks like a genocide in front of the International Court of Justice. Since Gaza's bombing of Gaza, more than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed in response to the attack on October 7 on October 7. According to Israel, around 1,200 were killed and 251 were taken hostage.

A study published by the British Medical Journal, The Lancet, showed that in the first year of Israel's war against Gaza, life expectancy in the coastal enclave decreased to about half of the pre-war level of 75.5 years. However, humanitarian say that the siege has triggered a completely new level of suffering.

The Irish Times spoke with four Palestinians in Gaza about the conditions they experience. The interviews were carried out by phone and by messaging apps, since international journalists have been excluded from the reporting from Gaza without embedding in Israeli forces since the beginning of the bombing.

“These conditions have exhausted our physical and spiritual energy.”

“Unfortunately I didn't celebrate because there was no cake, hahahaha,” says Haifa Farajallah. She speaks the day after her 42nd birthday.

“The food situation is very bad. We are a family that runs out shortly before eating,” says Farajallah. “Yesterday we mixed flour with pasta to make bread, but our shares will go out at any moment. There is no cash flow to cover some of the essential articles, and due to the exorbitant prices of the most basic necessities, I can no longer achieve whether vegetables or flour have become astronomical.”

She says that canned goods make up the most what is left. “The most common are lentils, pasta, original doses or beans if at all.”

Farajallah works in a health clinic and lives with her mother and sister. It originally comes from Wadi Gaza on the coast and is currently in the Central Maghazi region. Since October 10, 2023, it has been sold several times, including Deir al-Balah, Rafah and Khan Younis.

Farajallah says she and her mother suffer from chronic stress, but there is a lack of cardiac medication and medication against skin diseases.

“I want to say that I hope the war ends. In fact, it has to stop because these conditions have exhausted our physical and spiritual energy and everything else,” she says. “We are now looking for a new day without destruction and war, just peace and calm. I hope that this peace will be reached soon and that my people will enjoy security and security.”

“I don't know if I made the right decision to stay or not.”

“Food is a project,” says Dr. Mohammed Abu Mughaiseeb, deputy medical coordinator for Médecins Sans Frontières France in Gaza.

“For every person in Gaza, it is now the daily project that you have to do every day to find what you will eat.” Pasta is no longer available on the market, while a 25 -kg flour package of around 12 US dollars has risen before an armistice is responsible for around 500 US dollars (€ 440) in January in March. “I personally only eat a meal a day because there is nothing to buy.”

In the hospital and in clinics in which Abu Mughaiseb works, most cases that they treat are second and third degrees in connection with air strikes; Multifracture trauma, with some people need amputations; And infectious diseases including skin infections that relate to a lack of clean water and food.

You have also received malnutrition cases. However, medical care is blocked by the siege, including medical disposable items, medicine and water. He says that more than 40 percent of the objects they need have expired. “Chronic patients suffer from [a] Lack of your medication … antibiotics, painkillers, all of this is now a big problem. ”

According to Abu Mughaiseeb, charity kitchens that rely on a large number of people have closed due to their stocks. “The medical staff belong to the population, so they suffer … from the same thing.” He calls this an acute hunger phase … They also have the same problems for the patients, lack of food, because they counted on the food that was provided by the world food program or the world [Central] Kitchen … Of course, this affects the healing process, the immune system. “

There is no term that is sufficient to describe the crisis of mental health that confronts people in Gaza, even though it “really worsens”. There is “fear, fear, insomnia, no sleep, loss of appetite, depression, panic disorder. So all of these are mixed together … they are traumatized. And every day is getting worse. People around me … they have lost hope, they have lost motivation, tired, exhausted, mentally and physically.

In February 2024, Abu Mughaiseeb's wife and children were evacuated to Egypt. He said he had to follow them after working in Gaza a little longer. “I didn't know that the boundaries would be completely closed … now it is [been] more than a year and a half. The separation is very difficult. Being alone is always difficult … I see my colleagues. Yes, they are in danger with their families, but at least they have families with them, United. They take care of each other … I don't know if I made the right decision to stay or not, and I wish that this war will end so that I can really combine with my family. “

“There are no words to describe the meals we have to do”

Hamada, a 25-year-old engineer, only wanted his first name out of fear of effects. Channis from Khan Younis, he was also driven out several times. “Every time we flee, we leave parts of ourselves – our memories, our dignity.”

He worked with a basic initiative with the name Silent Helpers to help others. “Unfortunately, we can no longer distribute foods due to sudden prices. We are now focusing on a staple food: drinking water.” They deliver it to about 80 families every day, he says.

“As far as my own family is concerned, we are exposed to a real hunger. There are no words to describe the meals that we only have to survive … HONERSNOT is not just a word – it is our reality. You can see it in the sunken faces, the silent hungry children and the despair in the eyes of the parents.”

The engineer says that there is no medication available. “My mother suffers from chronically rheumatoid arthritis and lives in pain every day because she cannot get her medication. Her story is only an example of thousands.”

The behavior of some Gazans has changed due to despair, says Hamada. “Hunger has pushed a couple on theft – not because they are immoral, but because they are desperate. I saw fathers who have torn between their faith and their hungry children. Some have collapsed and stolen – not for greed, but for survival.”

[ ‘Desperate, traumatised people’: Gaza faces wave of looting, theft and violenceOpens in new window ]

Even children have become deaf for the sound of explosions and the sight of blood, he says. “Most people here have lost confidence in the so-called civilized world. They feel abandoned and justice justice on geography.

Hamada says that he wants “the world we remember, people. We don't want pity – we want justice. This is no longer just about politics. It is about our existence. We not only die from bombs – we are slowly dying of hunger, before the illness that turns back on our back.”

“I can't stand my children fight for a bread bread.”

Bean al Mabhoh was driven out of her house in Rafah City more than a year ago. She is now in Deir Al Balah with her three children, her husband and his parents.

As other with underlying health conditions, the lack of nutritious foods is particularly difficult for you because it suffers from an H.Pylori stomach infection. “I need mineral water [and] Healthy food because my stomach is affected by canned food and fried food. As a result, I constantly have severe pain that I cannot treat. ”

At the same time there are bombing “every day, every day. They are aimed at cafes, they aim at houses, mosques, hospitals, all of these goals are nearby. It is not certain that there is no safe place,” she says.

“I would like to add that this war has deprived us of privacy. There is no place of calm, relaxation or even to alleviate the sadness. I have lost most of my friends and the others traveled abroad. My children were deprived of their right to education.”

She is audibly angry when she says: “I can't endure it if you wear large water tanks and fight for bread bread. I have always dreamed of seeing her as an outstanding person. I introduced myself to another future for her.”