Few readers anticipated that the world they live in would be the setting for scenes from The Hunger Games books when they first appeared in print in the late 2000s. However, they continue to do so every day in Gaza.
Since the beginning of March, Israel has been firmly encumbered by our country. The entire strip is covered in starvation. The majority of families only consume one meal per day. Some people spend days without eating at all.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which is supported by the United States and Israel, began limiting aid deliveries to the area in late May. Palestinians have since been subjected to a deadly game in an effort to get some food.
Some of my neighbors and friends have dared to visit a distribution point for GHF aid, but none of my family members have dared. They only have horror stories to tell me.
We initially assumed there would be tents, queues, and order when we learned about the Israeli-named “Netzarim Corridor.” However, those who took the chance found only chaos and death there.
Near Salah al-Din Street, in a dangerous area known as the “death corridor,” locals refer to it as the “death corridor.” It is guarded by foreign military contractors and is surrounded by sand. Israeli soldiers and tanks are stationed nearby.
No precise timetable for the aid deliveries is available. The GHF occasionally opens the gates at 4 a.m. and 4 a.m. The night before sunset, pilgrims wait.
The crowd erupts when the gates finally open. No staff, signs, or queues are present. only fear, dust, and noise.
Over the top, drones circling resemble vultures. Then, a loudspeaker’s voice says, “Four minutes! Do what you can”!
There aren’t enough food boxes in the middle of the sand, but there are some. They never suffice. People shoving and climbing over each other as they approach the pile. They push one another. Come out with knives. Fighting breaks out in the air. Children scream. Men are falling. Through the sand, women crawl. Few people have the ability to grab and hold onto a box, which is fortunate. Then the gunshots begin. The sandy square turns into a battlefield for murder.
People flee their homes. Many are struck. Some people leave with injuries. Friends, family, or even strangers carry strangers. Other animals bleed into the sand alone.
More than 500 Palestinians have died since the end of May when Israeli soldiers have opened fire on gathered aid workers. More than 4, 000 people have been hurt.
One of them was Subhi, the son of my friend Nour. He felt compelled to risk his life to seek aid because the family had no food left. He made his way to Netzarim’s aid station on June 14 morning. He never returned.
Nour described the hours that were spent waiting by the door. There were no hours. No action. No calls made. The internet was unavailable. The silence was intolerable. Then, unapologetically, they audible a distant shooting ring. They were notified that something was wrong but couldn’t be reached for him right away.
His body was later discovered by paramedics. He was killed trying to bring his children’s food bag home.
Another friend, Hala, shared the story of Khamis, her sister’s brother-in-law, who was another victim of the GHF death trap. He carried the weight of the entire household on his back despite having only been married for two years and not having any children. After his brother’s death earlier in the war, he had begun looking after his own children.
Khamis’ friends managed to persuade him to travel with them to try to get some aid when their food ran out. When someone yelled, “They’ve opened the gates! ” as they were waiting near the aid hub on June 24!
Khamis stepped out of their hiding place to observe him briefly. His shoulder was pierced by an Israeli quadcopter, and his heart was lodged in his, killing him. He left behind hungry nieces and nephews and a grieving widow.
There are uncountable other stories that will never be made public, all of which are equally painful and heartbreaking.
These incidents have been referred to as “aid massacres,” according to the Gaza-based ministry of health. They are referred to as war crimes by legal experts. They are, in fact, “hunger games.”
People are affected by hunger. It tests the soul as well, not just weakening the body. It causes the most fundamental instincts to be unleashed, undermining trust and mutual respect.
The occupier is aware of this and uses it to bolster its position.
UNRWA, the United Nations organization for Palestinian refugees, was viciously attacked and banned by it.
Organization and fairness were UNRWA’s aid distribution system as examples. Through a thorough, honest process, each family that had an ID card could receive aid from the agency. The most vulnerable people, such as widows, orphans, elderly people, and disabled people, received priority, ensuring that those who needed it most first, were first.
Because of its system’s emphasis on order, dignity, and respect for human life, it reduced the chance of deadly stampedes and violent clashes.
None of that is what the occupier wants.
In order to provide aid in the form of “hunger games,” it was created.
These are plotted traps that create chaos and disorder, causing division between Palestinians and breaking up the social order and solidarity that sustains Palestinian unity.
Another Israeli lie that was widely believed was that Israel and the GHF denied that there were any large-scale killings taking place at the aid centers for a month. Israeli media reports that Israeli soldiers were instructed to fire at Palestinian aid distribution centers by the Israeli government.
Will the world now accept our ideas? Will it take any action?
Not fiction, what is happening in Gaza. It’s not a horror film, either. Both the genocide they are involved in and the “hunger games” are real. The world’s willingness to create such a dystopia is damning evidence of its own humanity losing.
