In the desolate ruins of the Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza, Umm Muhammad\u2019s daughter Hala assembles scraps of wood and chunks of foam to build a fire. <\/p>\n
Proper housing and basic infrastructure are nowhere to be found. Their family of 11 is living in a tent alongside heaps of concrete and mangled steel that now lie where their home once stood. <\/p>\n
What they do have: flour, water and oil, which means Umm Muhammad can bake bread for her family. <\/p>\n
But for how long? <\/p>\n
\u201cThe food aid is what\u2019s keeping us alive,\u201d Umm Muhammad said. \u201cWe eat and drink for the whole month from aid. Without that, it will be very difficult\u2026 aid makes us live.\u201d <\/p>\n
That lifeline for Umm Muhammad and hundreds of thousands of other Palestinians is now under existential threat as Israel lays siege to Gaza once again. <\/p>\n
The Israeli government announced Sunday that it was shutting down the supply of food and other humanitarian aid into Gaza in a bid to pressure Hamas into releasing more hostages and impose new conditions on the extension of the ceasefire, a day after the conclusion of the first phase of the deal. <\/p>\n
\u201cAs of this morning, the entry of goods and supplies into Gaza will be prevented,\u201d Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Sunday, accusing Hamas of controlling \u201call of the supplies of goods that are being sent to the Gaza Strip\u201d and \u201cturning the humanitarian aid into a budget for terrorism directed against us.\u201d <\/p>\n
Hamas rejected those claims as \u201cbaseless lies.\u201d Multiple humanitarian aid groups operating inside Gaza have said they distribute the aid they receive directly to those in need. <\/p>\n
The United Nations and other aid groups accuse Israel of violating international law by blocking the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza and say Israel is once again using starvation as a weapon of war, a charge Israel has denied. These same organizations have accused Israel of restricting or creating hurdles to the entry of aid throughout the war. <\/p>\n
Twenty-five thousand trucks carrying food, hygiene supplies, tents and other necessities entered Gaza during the first six weeks of the ceasefire, stemming massive food insecurity and somewhat alleviating dire humanitarian conditions that had gripped Gaza. <\/p>\n
Amid the rubble, families celebrating Ramadan have been able to put food on the table for the break-fast meal of Iftar. Markets had recently begun to come back to life. And regular aid distribution provided a thin safety net. <\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s decision to block aid into Gaza is already reverberating throughout the strip. <\/p>\n
Food prices are already sharply rising in Gaza\u2019s markets. And aid organizations are scrambling to ration minimal stockpiles of aid. <\/p>\n
The World Food Programme said that bakeries and soup kitchens in Gaza could be forced to shut down in less than two weeks if more aid does not reach the strip. <\/p>\n
Israel has threatened to take additional steps if Hamas does not agree to its demands, including cutting off electricity and water supplies to Gaza. <\/p>\n
US-based group Human Rights Watch warned Thursday that Israel\u2019s blockade would shut down most of the Palestinian territory\u2019s water infrastructure within a week by starving it of fuel. <\/p>\n
The specter of a return to war also now looms large, especially after US President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened to give Israel the weapons it needs \u201cto finish the job\u201d in Gaza unless Hamas immediately releases all of the remaining hostages held there. <\/p>\n
But for some in Gaza, Israel\u2019s decision to block food aid into Gaza already amounts to a return to war. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey are fighting us through our food,\u201d Abu Muhammad said, standing atop a pile of rubble in Jabalya. \u201cNetanyahu is now publicly saying \u2018I will close the crossings and starve you.\u2019 No one is standing against him.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cWho is standing with us?\u201d he asks. \u201cWe only have God \u2013 God is with us.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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