Three women struggled to find aid in Gaza a month ago, now they have banded together in a desperate hunt to feed their family. CNN’s Paula Hancocks reports.

Jerusalem

Israel and Iran have agreed a ceasefire after a twelve day conflict. Meanwhile, Israel strikes in Gaza continue with the humanitarian crisis deepening.

Middle East Conflict

Women in Gaza are facing severe challenges as they search for food and aid for their families amid ongoing conflict and insecurity. Many have lost family members and are now the sole providers, forced to venture out at night to avoid danger, yet still facing threats from violence, theft, and military activity. 

The breakdown of law and order, coupled with limited aid deliveries, has left many women and children vulnerable to hunger and violence. Despite their efforts, many return empty-handed, and the situation has grown more desperate as food becomes scarcer and risks increase. International organizations have highlighted the growing desperation, noting that the most vulnerable are often left without support.

Women struggle to find aid in Gaza

Umm al-Abad walks into the unknown. Danger is everywhere in this darkness. A woman alone, surrounded by men, all with the same desperate purpose. To find food, to survive. Al-Abad's husband was killed in an Israeli airstrike. She's now the sole provider for a family of eight, and can only leave them while they sleep to find food. The children tell me, don't go mama, she says. Don't go to the aid centres, we don't want you to die mama. We'll take care of us if something happens to you. The alternative is they starve. This group of women from one displacement camp make the night-time search together for protection. But even then, they are targets. This woman says, yesterday I waited from 6pm until 4am. I got a bag of flour, but then a young man with a knife said, drop the flour or I'll kill you. This is the value of Gaza now, my homeland. Everything around us is a risk to our lives, Omkata says. Whether it's thieves, Israeli soldiers, rockets or drones, everything. Their friend says she's come every day for a week and received nothing. She just gave birth to her youngest child three weeks earlier. The women go back to their families at daybreak, empty-handed. More than 1,000 people have been killed by Israeli fire waiting for food since late May, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. The Israeli military says it has fired warning shots when it feels threatened, but denies responsibility for the heavy death toll. These displaced women from Bet Lahiya have a long walk ahead of them. This woman says either I return with food and my children shout with joy, or they will scream in grief because I didn't return. The crack of gunfire nearby sends them diving for cover, unsure of where is safe. A casualty being rushed past them to hospital, a reminder that safety is a concept that left Gaza long ago. When she returns to her tent, her children start crying when they see the bag is empty. The United Nations says the trickle of aid being allowed in, the breakdown of law and order and the dismantling of the UN-led delivery systems has created new levels of desperation. Gaza is now a place where the fittest survive and the most vulnerable are left with nothing. Back from their nightly trips to aid points, Umkata and Umbalal share what little food they managed to get. A friendship formed in displacement camps. I've seen death many times, Umbalal says, but I will keep going until I get my children something to eat. CNN tracked down the two women weeks later. As food got scarcer and their bodies weaker, their journey has become even more perilous. Desperation pushed them to try their luck at the American-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Umkata says the American aid points are death zones. I reached one and spent the night there. A sniper fired above my head. The bullet missed me by mere centimetres. She hasn't gone back since. Her three children live on saline she makes at home and food from charity kitchens. They always go to sleep hungry, she says. Her friend and tent neighbour Umbalal hasn't given up on the long tiring treks to find food for her five children. I was just at Zakim, she says. I left at sunset yesterday and returned this morning. There was gunfire and martyrs lying in front of us. I couldn't bring anything. Without organised aid deliveries reaching the most vulnerable, it remains an endless and usually futile pursuit. Paula Hancock, CNN, Abu Dhabi.

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Women struggle to find aid in Gaza

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