The first day of Ramadan on Monday came like any other for Palestinians in war-torn Gaza: battling famine and disease, shivering in tents and the threat of bombs in more than five months of fighting between Israel and Hamas militants. .
As the Muslim world welcomed the holy month and its traditional day of fasting, many Gazans faced bombardment, leaving residents once again searching through the debris of destroyed homes for survivors and bodies .
A UN report citing the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said so far 25 people, most of them children, have died from malnutrition and dehydration.
“We are running out of time,” Cindy McCain, head of the World Food Program (WFP), said on Monday. “If we do not rapidly increase the size of aid going to the northern areas of Gaza, famine is imminent,” he said.
The United Nations has reported particular difficulty reaching northern Gaza for deliveries of food and other aid.
Gazans across the region are feeling even greater shortages during Ramadan.
“We don't know what we will eat to break the fast,” Zaki Abu Mansour, 63, said inside his tent. “I only have a tomato and a cucumber… and I don't have money to buy anything.”
Residents say whatever goods are available are sold at exorbitant prices.
Fighting continues across Gaza, while UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for a “silence of the guns” during the Muslim holy month and said he was “shocked and angry that the conflict continues”.
Guterres also appealed for the removal of “all obstacles” to aid distribution.
