In a modest tent in the Halawa refugee camp in northeastern Gaza, seven-year-old Fella Asaliya endures compounded suffering. She suffers from muscular dystrophy and severe malnutrition, desperately needing food, milk, and medication for her condition.
Between the harsh realities of displacement and the scarcity of food and medical supplies, Fella and her family face dire living and health conditions, struggling daily to find the basic necessities and care a child her age requires.
Six days of closure at the Kerem Abu Salem crossing were enough to cause a disappearance of vegetables and eggs, force bakeries to close, and bring the crisis to the tables of children and infants in Gaza. Even the reopening of the crossing did not end the crisis; while 63 trucks of coal entered, food remained scarce. Gaza entered the six days of closure completely exposed to any food safety net. With poverty exceeding 90 percent and 95 percent of families relying on aid to secure their daily meal, according to UN reports and data from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), people’s purchasing power has vanished, turning the closure of the crossing into a test that reveals the collapse of the food system hour by hour.
