Break Asa, Gaza Residents Consumption Of Murbei Leaves To Survive

Children in Gaza/PHOTO via UN

JAKARTA - Struggling through the rubble and buildings destroyed by the war in Gaza, Ahmed Al-Shanbari and his three sons risked their lives to reap turquoise leaves to eat.

The scene that occurred throughout the enclave was when Palestinians faced a hunger crisis.

"It was scary to walk when the bombing was still happening," Al-Shanbari, who like most Gazans took the risk of being bombarded by Israel for food.

Ahmed's wife, Fatima, cleaned the leaves and boiled them on an emergency stove.

"There's nothing in it tolerable, either taste or color," he said. Fatima presents the leaves with rice and spices, hoping that her children can tolerate the acid taste.

Murbei leaves are animal food, he said. "But what can we do?"

The war began when militants from the Palestinian militant group Hamas stormed the Gaza border and attacked Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and holding more than 250 people hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

In a statement on July 9, a group of independent human rights experts mandated by the United Nations said hunger had spread throughout the enclave. Israel's diplomatic mission in Geneva said the statement was "misinformation".

"Israel continues to improve its coordination and assistance in sending humanitarian aid throughout the Gaza Strip, recently connecting its electricity lines to Gaza's water desalination plant," he added.

According to Gaza's health authorities, 33 children died of malnutrition, mostly in the northern region which to date faces the heaviest burden of Israeli military campaigns.

Gaza is still at high risk of starvation as war continues and limited access to aid, a UN-backed global monitoring agency called Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said last month. More than 495,000 people face the most severe level of food vulnerability, or "disaster", the IPC said.