Desperate Palestinians queued with pots and plastic buckets at charity kitchens in Gaza on Saturday, a day after the United Nations formally declared a famine in the besieged territory.
Footage from Gaza City, the enclave’s largest urban center that Israel has vowed to seize in its ongoing military offensive, showed women and children scrambling for rice amid chaotic scenes. Some children were seen scraping cooking pots for leftover grains, while others ate directly from bags on the ground.
“We have no home left, no food, no income. We are forced to depend on charity kitchens, but they cannot meet our hunger,” said Yousef Hamad, 58, displaced from Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza.
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In central Gaza, at a food distribution point in Deir el-Balah, Umm Mohammad, 34, expressed frustration at the UN announcement. “The declaration of famine came far too late,” she said, describing how children were “staggering from dizziness, unable to wake up due to lack of food and water.”
The UN confirmed the famine on Friday, warning of mass starvation and blaming the crisis on the ongoing war, severe restrictions on aid delivery, and widespread displacement. Humanitarian agencies say Gaza’s food system has collapsed under months of bombardment, leaving millions at risk of acute malnutrition.
As Israel intensifies its operations in Gaza City and surrounding areas, aid groups fear conditions will worsen, with limited humanitarian access exacerbating hunger and disease.
