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British Palestinians have described the challenges that their families in Gaza are going through to get food as part of a plea for tougher action by the UK government on Israel.
Wafaa Shamallakh, who works as a medical interpreter in London, described how her sister Maysa in Gaza, spent hours yesterday waiting for her husband and son to return from an aid distribution point on the Netzarim border.
Maysa’s husband and son Joud, 15, walked for more than an hour to reach the aid distribution point, but were forced to turn back owing to the chaos they found there.
“Thousands of people were there, coming from the north and the south of Gaza, desperate to find a bag of flour, a little sugar, maybe some pasta. It was chaos. A quadcopter flew overhead shooting at crowds,” she said.
Fire and smoke bombs made it difficult for them to see. Her cousin Khaled was injured. The pair returned empty-handed that day.
“My twin nieces, Dima and Rima cried when they saw their father return with nothing. But my sister Maysa was relieved, because at least they came back alive,” she said.
“This is what it means to survive in Gaza. This is their daily life, fetching food has become a battle of survival,” she said.
The family were living in tents, with “no insulation, no water, no electricity”, where they cook over fires from wood collected from the rubble.
“My sister spends hours just trying to find enough work to earn a piece of bread.”
The family may have two meals on a “lucky” days, having lentil soup for breakfast, or sharing a piece of bread in the evening. Often they “go hungry so their children can eat”.
Israel has imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip since March.
A US and Israeli attempt to introduce their own aid distribution mechanism through US security contractor the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation last week has backfired.
The GHF closed its distribution centres on Wednesday after several deadly shooting incidents killed scores of Palestinians and drew sharp UN condemnation.
It then delayed the reopening of its aid sites on Thursday, without clarifying when they would resume service, as starvation looms in the war-ravaged enclave.
People were journeying for days from different parts of Gaza to get access to food the distribution points in Rafah – but were forced to turn back owing to the scenes of chaos when they arrived.
Bassem Farajallah, a British Palestinian, described how his nephew Nour travelled from Gaza city to Nusayra, from which he was then forced to walk to Rafah owing to an Israeli prohibition of vehicles there.
On arrival, he found “nothing, only danger and gunfire”. “In the end, he managed to buy a small amount of flour for nearly 100 dollars,” he said. He was gone for three days, and Mr Farajallah described the huge emotional toll on his sister, Nour’s mother, as she waited for him to return.
The family has not seen meat or chicken in more than a year, and his sister a diabetic with high blood pressure, survives on bread that is stretched with salt and pasta.
UK urged to take action
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer changed his tone on Gaza this week, describing the humanitarian crisis as “intolerable” during a press conference in Scotland.
Reiterating his comments in Parliament, he said on Wednesday: “We will keep looking at further action along with our allies, including sanctions, but let me be absolutely clear: we need to get back to a ceasefire.”
Though he met British Palestinians in October last year, there was a prevailing sense from the community that they were being ignored.
“I want them to look genuinely at us, to sit with us and listen and consider our demands. Listen to that community, which has families back in Gaza,” Mr Farajallah told The National.
Ms Shamallakh said she felt let down by the British government’s response to the conflict, which until recently supported Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
The new Labour government said it would be guided by international law in its response to the conflict.
Last month, it suspended new trade talks with Israel, imposed a new round of sanctions of Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank, and summoned the Israeli ambassador to the UK.
But those measures were undermined by the UK Trade envoy’s visit to Israel the following week.
Ms Shamallakh called on the UK government to impose a full embargo, political and economic sanctions, and assert “real pressure to bring an end to the genocide” and ensure unhindered humanitarian aid access.
“Let this be a turning point where Britain stops whispering about international law and starts upholding it, because the people of Gaza are not waiting for your sympathy, they are demanding your courage,” she said.
