Follow this family in Gaza while they are pursuing the dream of food -

It is so disastrous the search for food in Gaza, that a father says that his greatest dream is to see his son with a piece of bread.

From the inside of the tent, he shares with his wife and his five children west of Gaza City, Mohammad Abu Amsha describes what it takes to continue this dream, and the deepening of despair of staying alive while the war is raging.

“The difficult word is not enough,” said Mohammad, 39. “We are experiencing a disaster.”

If they eat at all, it’s a good day, but it is not guaranteed after months of an Israeli imposed blockade and almost two years of war. Securing a single meal to feed your family is often a dangerous test that extends from morning to sunset.

And it starts with the collection of pieces of fabric for sale.

Two children walk in sand among the tents while wearing flavored bags on their shoulders. — Two of the children of the Abu Amsha family are looking for pieces of fabric that can be used as fire fire. They spend more than an hour looking in the streets of Gaza City for pieces of fabric. (Mohammed El Saife / CBC)

The search for “ribbons”

In Gaza, where fuel shortages abound, there is a request for pieces of materials in tatters because they are effective fire starters when they are soaked in diesel.

That day, the task of finding the fabric falls on three of his children – Rahaf, 13, Ahmed, 11, and Fawzi, 10.

Their parents send them with a blessing: “God is merciful, whom they soon come back.”

A woman stands back to the camera while several children and a man carry bags in a tent. — When Abu Amsha’s children come back from their search for fabric pieces that can be used to make households, they are greeted by their mother, Enas Abu Amsha. Their father, Mohammad Abu Amsha, on the far left, will then sell the remains. (Mohammed El Saife / CBC)

When children do not come back after more than an hour, Mohammad becomes extremely worried about them.

He worries every time they go out in the streets. “I fear that they will not get lost,” he said. “I worry about them when there is a strike.”

But finally, they come back with bags on their backs, loaded with what looks like carpets, nylon, shirts, an old hat.

Ahmed, 11, said: “I was hungry while I was walking.”

A man and three children stand among the rubble as they empty bags of piece of fabric. — Mohammad and three of his children go through the pieces of fabric. From this transport, Mohammad manages to obtain 20 shekels, or about $ 8 CDN. (Mohammed El Saife / CBC)

Sell remains for a meal

Now it’s up to Mohammad to find a buyer for the remains. It is only then that the family can start looking for food.

Some days, they come empty, even after eight to 12 hours of testing.

A man and three children stand in front of a fortune stand where a man has money behind a table holding small bags of lenses and other foods. — Mohammad uses funds to buy food from a seller in Gaza City. They have enough to buy a spaghetti package and a few lenses. Flour or bread would cost double what they have. (Mohammed El Saife / CBC)

Today, they are lucky.

Mohammad finds a buyer and they manage to bring together 20 shekels – about $ 8 CDN – Enough for pasta and lenses. He explains that he would need double to buy bread or flour.

“We separate between seven people,” said Mohammad. “Everyone gets two spoonfuls.”

It is the daily battle for the Abu Amsha family and tens of thousands like them in Gaza, where the last alarm is the most noisy to date.

A man in a faded t-shirt and a woman in hijab bend her head on a pot containing uncooked spaghetti and red lenses while a fire burns alongside them. — Mohammad and Enas divide the spaghetti into a pot with the lenses as they prepare to prepare the meal that will have to feed their whole family. (Mohammed El Saife / CBC)

Famine alert

On July 29, the integrated classification of the food security phase (IPC), which monitored hunger in the world, published a famine alert for the enclave.

The IPC says that they have issued the alert to attract urgent attention to Gaza’s deterioration conditions, and that more analyzes will be carried out to determine if there will be an official famine declaration.

Look | Dozens have killed trucks near Gaza aid within 24 hours, reports the Ministry of Health:

The American envoy visits Israel as Gaza’s hunger crisis is deepened

While international pressure rises on Israel, the American special envoy in the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address the hunger crisis in Gaza.

According to Their reportMore than 20,000 children have been admitted for treatment for acute malnutrition between April and mid-July, and hospitals have reported a rapid increase in hunger deaths in children under the age of five, with at least 16 deaths since July.

Ciaran Donelly, the main vice-president of the International Living Committee, who had workers on the ground on the ground in Gaza since the start of the war, said that the alert should serve as alarm.

Five children are sitting on a cover on the ground, looking at a man, I steam noodles. — In Gaza City, the task of obtaining a single meal to feed the seven people of the Abu Amsha family is often a dangerous test that extends from the morning to sunset. The children, on the left, Fawzi, 10, Ahmed, 11, Aya, 15, Rahaf, 13, and Husam, 7, come together while Mohammad serves what will be their only meal of the day. (Mohammed El Saife / CBC)

“The thing about famine and these critical food insecurity and nutrition crises is … once in progress, they are incredibly difficult to stop,” said Donelly.

“We will see dozens of people turn into hundreds of people, turning into thousands of people losing their lives without urgent, immediate and large -scale action.”