Monthlong Israeli siege pushes north Gaza ever closer to famine

from Daily Sabah

Trapped under an Israeli siege with almost no food for a month, tens of thousands of Palestinians in northern Gaza are surviving on meager rations of lentils and flour, while some, amid relentless bombardment, risk their lives searching for scraps of food in the ruins of destroyed homes.

Thousands have staggered out of the area, hungry and thin, into Gaza City, where they find the situation a little better. One hospital reports seeing thousands of children suffering from malnutrition. A nutritionist said she treated a pregnant woman wasting away at just 40 kilograms (88 pounds).

"We are being starved to force us to leave our homes," said Mohammed Arqouq, whose family of eight is determined to stay in the north, weathering Israel’s siege. "We will die here in our homes."

Medical workers warn that hunger is spiraling to dire proportions under a monthlong siege on north Gaza by the Israeli military, which has been waging a fierce campaign since the beginning of October, saying it's rooting out Hamas members allegedly regrouping in that area...

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