\u201cI used to easily receive aid distributed by the UN,\u201d Abir Safi, a displaced person from the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, told UN News<\/em>. \u201cNow, we get nothing. I risk my life by going to the Zikim crossing and returning with an empty bag. All I want is to return to my children with some food.\u201d<\/p>\n Ms. Safi said she never imagined that providing for her children would become a deadly adventure. After losing her husband in the war, she found herself alone, facing the responsibility of supporting her family amid deteriorating humanitarian conditions.<\/p>\n She was among thousands of citizens who gathered along Rashid Street in northern Gaza, which connects the Zikim crossing to northern Gaza, hoping to receive humanitarian aid.<\/p>\n A horse-drawn cart carries the bodies of more than seven Palestinians killed while trying to reach aid.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Our correspondent witnessed the arrival of thousands of Palestinians returning from a journey in search of food supplies. Thousands of emaciated bodies \u2013 men, women, and children \u2013 were caught in a scene that has become a daily occurrence. Everyone is running in search of the few aid trucks that reach northern Gaza.<\/p>\n The United Nations has the capacity and resources necessary to distribute aid in a safe, dignified manner to all those in need in the Gaza Strip. The organization continues to call for the lifting of restrictions imposed by the Israeli authorities on the entry and distribution of aid into Gaza.<\/p>\n The danger lies not only in the crowding and chaos, but also in the death that lurks around everyone. Fayza al-Turmisi, a displaced person from\u00a0Shuja\u2019iyya, described the horrific scene along Rashid Street in northern Gaza.<\/p>\n \u201cThey fire shells and bullets at us here. We are forced to lie on the ground. I hide among more than 200 men, and bullets fly over my head. If you raise your head, you get hit. If you stay on the ground, bullets fall around you.\u201d<\/p>\n A young Gazan was injured while trying to obtain aid.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Mohammed Mudeiris, aged seven, said he lost his father in an airstrike just the day before. He doesn\u2019t have the luxury of grieving for his father as he is now the sole breadwinner for his siblings.<\/p>\n Walking through the dense crowds, he extends his small hand, begging for a handful of flour to take back to his siblings.<\/p>\n \u201cI am the eldest of my siblings,\u201d he said. \u201cMy father was killed in an airstrike yesterday. I am trying to ask someone to give me a plate of flour or a meal from the aid that arrived today.\u201d<\/p>\n Mohammed Mudeiris, a child who lost his father in an Israeli airstrike, coming to secure food for his siblings from aid trucks arriving via the Zikim crossing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The race for food is not limited to men. Women are forced to take this risk, driven by the responsibilities of motherhood and the needs of their children.<\/p>\n \u201cI throw myself into danger to bring food for my children,\u201d said Asma Masoud, who was displaced from northern Gaza.<\/p>\n \u201cWe never get our fair share of aid,\u201d she said. \u201cMy husband is paralysed, and there are widows and women like me who cannot provide food for their children.\u201d<\/p>\n Highlighting that some young people take the aid and sell it at exorbitant prices that she cannot afford to buy, Ms. Masoud called on the world to ensure \u201ca fair distribution mechanism and to allow UNRWA [the UN agency for Palestine refugees] and international organizations to do so\u201d.<\/p>\n Aid should be distributed via text messages so that every person in need receives their share, as was the case before, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut now, only a few people are profiting and selling the aid,\u201d she stated. \u201cWe cannot tolerate that. It is an injustice.\u201d<\/p>\n Asma Masoud, a displaced woman from northern Gaza, returning from a search for food.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Ms. Safi agreed with Ms. Masoud, complaining that \u201cthe beneficiaries now are largely thieves.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve lost a lot of weight, and all my health is gone,\u201d Ms. Safi said. \u201cI don\u2019t know how I’m going to feed my children. I want to receive aid with dignity. Aid used to come through the United Nations, and I could easily go and receive it, but now I don’t receive anything.”<\/p>\n I want to receive aid with dignity.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n This chaotic system leaves behind widows, women, the elderly and many other complex humanitarian cases, such as Maqboula Adas, who supports her injured husband and her son who has a broken leg.<\/p>\n \u201cMy husband is injured and cannot move,\u201d she explained. \u201cMy eldest son has a broken leg, and I also have three daughters. No one supports us except God. Every day I go to try to get some flour. If it weren’t for that, they would have died of hunger.\u201d<\/p>\n Maqboula Adas, a displaced woman from Shuja\u2019iyya.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n At the height of this tragedy, macabre scenes emerge. Instead of carrying bags of flour, a horse-drawn cart transports the bodies of at least seven Palestinians who were killed while trying to get aid.<\/p>\n While some young men carried sacks of flour on their backs, ambulances bring the wounded and dead from the northern regions. The achievement of getting food aid comes at a heavy price.<\/p>\n One young man was injured in the head and face while trying to collect aid.<\/p>\n \u201cI came to collect aid, but today wasn\u2019t my day,\u201d he said. \u201cI will come again despite my injury, and I hope God will provide for me next time.\u201d<\/p>\n Thousands of Palestinians seeking aid arriving from the Israeli Zikim crossing in northern Gaza.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Gaza is facing a severe risk of famine, with food consumption and nutrition indicators at their worst levels since the beginning of the current conflict, according to a warning issued by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).\u00a0<\/p>\n At least 147 deaths due to hunger and malnutrition have been reported, including 88 children. More than 28,000 cases of severe acute malnutrition have been recorded among children, according to reports from the World Health Organization and the World Food Programme.<\/p>\n Despite promises to facilitate the flow of aid, restrictions on the entry of food and fuel, along with ongoing attacks near the crossings, have prevented supplies from reaching those in need. In addition, the chaotic distribution of aid within Gaza has further complicated the situation and placed civilians at greater risk.<\/p>\n The UN human rights office (OHCHR) has documented the deaths of hundreds of people attempting to access aid amid ongoing gunfire and shelling near relief truck routes and military distribution points.<\/p>\n\u2018Bullets over my head\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/global.unitednations.entermediadb.net\/assets\/mediadb\/services\/module\/asset\/downloads\/preset\/Libraries\/Production%20Library\/04-08-2025-UN-News-Gazan-Injured.jpg\/image1170x530cropped.jpg\" "\\"A")
\n<\/div>\nBetween mourning and hunger<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Mohammed](\"https:\/\/global.unitednations.entermediadb.net\/assets\/mediadb\/services\/module\/asset\/downloads\/preset\/Libraries\/Production%20Library\/04-08-2025-UN-News-Gazan-A%20boy.jpg\/image1170x530cropped.jpg\" "\\"Mohammed")
\n<\/div>\n\u2018I risk my life to bring food to my children\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Asma](\"https:\/\/global.unitednations.entermediadb.net\/assets\/mediadb\/services\/module\/asset\/downloads\/preset\/Libraries\/Production%20Library\/04-08-2025-UN-News-Asma-Gaza.jpg\/image1170x530cropped.jpg\" "\\"Asma")
\n<\/div>\n\u2018I don\u2019t know how I\u2019m going to feed my children\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n
![\"Maqboula](\"https:\/\/global.unitednations.entermediadb.net\/assets\/mediadb\/services\/module\/asset\/downloads\/preset\/Libraries\/Production%20Library\/04-08-2025-UN-News-Magboula.jpg\/image1170x530cropped.jpg\" "\\"Maqboula")
\n<\/div>\nCarts carry corpses<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Thousands](\"https:\/\/global.unitednations.entermediadb.net\/assets\/mediadb\/services\/module\/asset\/downloads\/preset\/Collections\/Embargoed\/04-08-2025-UNIFEED-Gaza-aid-06.jpg\/image1170x530cropped.jpg\" "\\"Thousands")
\n<\/div>\nRisk of famine<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Abir](\"https:\/\/global.unitednations.entermediadb.net\/assets\/mediadb\/services\/module\/asset\/downloads\/preset\/Libraries\/Production%20Library\/04-08-2025-UN-News-Gaza-Abeer.jpg\/image1170x530cropped.jpg\" "\\"Abir")
\n<\/div>\n