CAIRO: Omar Deeb was nearly hit by Israeli tank fire while searching for food in Gaza, and then saw people killed around him when he set out once more to feed his family in the beseiged enclave. But like many Gazans who could soon face famine he has no choice but to embark on what he calls "death missions", risking his life to provide for his six children, who live in a school shelter. "If I go, we eat. And if I don't, we don't eat," Deeb, 37, who lives in Gaza City.
Securing aid has become a life or death scramble in Gaza during a six-month-old Israeli ground and air campaign that has killed over 32,000 Palestinians and wounding more than 75,000, according to Gaza health authorities.
Israel is carrying out the offensive in retaliation for an attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7 in which 1,200 people were killed and over 200 people were taken captives, according to Israeli tallies.
The United Nations has warned of a looming famine and complained of obstacles to getting aid in and distributing it throughout Gaza. The U.S. also says famine is imminent.
Deeb hasn't yet healed from wounds sustained when pieces of a building which were blown apart struck him as he tried grab flour from aid trucks entering northern Gaza.
Deeb also came close to death two other times, he said, first on Feb 29 when the Gaza health ministry said over 100 people were killed by Israeli fire as they ventured to get aid.
Israel said the deaths were caused when people were trampled over or run over by trucks carrying aid.
On March 23, he said Israel opened fire at an aid drop point at Gaza's Kuwait roundabout, where several other people were killed around him, mostly members of the Popular Committees, a body formed of traditional family clans and factions to secure aid convoys.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the Palestinian allegation that it puts seekers of aid in danger. The Israeli military said its forces had not fired at people in the aid convoy in the Kuwait roundabout incident, according to its preliminary findings.
Desperate and hungry, thousands like Deeb head to aid drop points when night falls to secure some flour or canned food.
They learn about incoming drops from aid truck drivers who phone it in to their relatives, who in turn spread the word. — Reuters
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