Hunger on faces: hundreds of ‘starving Gazans’ killed by Israel

The silence of a Ramadan night, in the early hours of 18 March, was shattered by explosions, turning the morning fast preparations, known as suhoor, into a massacre. 

The sudden Israeli bombardments targeted various residential homes and tents across the Gaza Strip, killing at least 413 Palestinians, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

At the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza City, Dr Ahmed Al-Qirm stood before rows of bodies wrapped in white shrouds. 

The bodies were emaciated, their faces sunken, as if starvation had eaten them before they were torn apart by shrapnel. 

The doctor pointed to the bodies of children between the ages of five and twelve and said to The New Arab in a low voice, “They were all killed by Israeli bombing… but the hunger was clear on their faces.” 

“These children were waiting for their suhoor. They thought the night would give them a chance to rest… but Israel killed them in cold blood,” he added, voice trembling. 

Not even a morsel of bread

A deafening scream pierced the chaos in another corner of the hospital’s emergency room. A mother of three, wearing a torn black dress, ran frantically through the rows of bodies, searching for her children. Her trembling voice carried unbearable pain, “My children… where are my children? They were hungry! They didn’t even get suhoor!”

She collapsed next to three tiny bodies wrapped in white shrouds. Kneeling on the floor, she cradled her still-warm child’s hand and began gently shaking his shoulders as if trying to rouse him from a fleeting nap and said “My love… wake up. I promised you suhoor… Don’t die now… Don’t die hungry!”

A young nurse approached her, trying to calm her down, but she pushed his hand away and began shaking her child’s body even more vigorously, screaming, “They were waiting for suhoor! They didn’t even get a morsel of bread!”

She touched her cold cheeks when she uncovered her little girl’s face. She said, “Aren’t you hungry any more, my daughter? You cried all night from hunger… Forgive me, my love, I couldn’t even give you a piece of bread.”

This scene repeated itself across Gaza. In the Shujaiya neighbourhood, Abu Khaled Abed was digging through the rubble of his destroyed home, searching for the remains of his family.

He told TNA, “We were in our house, trying to prepare something for suhoor, even just bread, some tea, and water. Suddenly, an explosion rang out. Glass shattered, and the ceiling collapsed on our heads. I found myself searching for my wife and children under the rubble. I found them… but they were not alive.”

“We were all hungry. Why is the army killing us? What is our fault? What is the fault of my children that they should die without even eating their food? Where is humanity? Where are the Arab countries and human rights organisations?” he added. 

His voice grew louder, his screams shook the air, “I want my children back to life… Who will bring them back to me? How can I forget the voice of my child asking for food? How will I live without them?”

‘Most severe’ Israeli attack 

The Israeli army launched over 75 simultaneous airstrikes across the Gaza Strip, targeting residential areas in Gaza City, Khan Younis, Rafah, and the central region. The attacks killed at least 413 Palestinians and wounded more than 440 others, including dozens in critical condition, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

Mohammed Abu Salmiya, director of Al-Shifa Hospital, told TNA that the hospital received dozens of bodies and wounded at once, in a scene he described as “the most severe” since the beginning of the escalation. 

He added that at least 30 bodies remain under the rubble, with access to them extremely difficult due to ongoing shelling and collapsed infrastructure.

Civil Defence spokesman Mahmoud Basal told TNA that medical and civil defence teams struggle to find survivors amid widespread destruction and blocked roads.

Palestinian security sources confirmed that the Israeli attacks targeted prominent Hamas leaders, killing Major General Mahmoud Abu Watfa, Undersecretary of the Interior Ministry in Gaza, and Abu Obeida al-Jamasi, a member of the movement’s political bureau, in addition to Issam al-Daalis and Brigadier General Bahjat Abu Sultan, head of the Internal Security Service. 

The government media office in Gaza described the attacks as “systematic targeting of the Palestinian people,” warning of an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe amid the ongoing blockade and the prevention of aid entry. 

The media office noted that the majority of the victims were women and children, while hospitals are overwhelmed by the rising number of wounded at a time when medical supplies are running out.

Hamas accused Israel of violating the ceasefire agreement, holding Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responsible for the repercussions of the escalation. 

Izzat al-Rishq, a Hamas senior member, said in a press statement, “Netanyahu has decided to resume the war of extermination against Gaza, and he is prepared to sacrifice even Israeli prisoners to escape his internal crises.”

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement described the escalation as “an insistence on committing massacres,” stressing that the resistance “will remain steadfast despite attempts to impose new equations by force.”

On the Israeli side, the Prime Minister’s office announced that the Israeli army had received orders to “take forceful action against Hamas,” blaming the movement for rejecting prisoner release deals. 

Israel stressed that “operations will continue until their goals are achieved,” raising fears of an expanded military offensive and the end of a fragile ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.