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The UN’s food agency has warned that families trapped within the besieged Sudanese city of el-Fasher face starvation.

The World Food Programme (WFP) said it had not been able to deliver food to the city in the western Darfur region by road for more than a year.

El-Fasher has been surrounded by paramilitary fighters from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for nearly 16 months – determined to seize it from Sudan’s army.

The WFP warning comes as local activists have already begun reporting deaths by starvation in the city, which is still home to about 300,000 people.

Sudan was plunged into a civil war in April 2023 after a vicious power struggle erupted between the army and its former ally, the RSF – creating one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

The UN’s children’s agency (Unicef) has also issued a statement saying malnutrition is rife across the country, with many children “reduced to skin and bones”.

The WFP warning echoes a recent appeal for urgent support from the North Darfur Governor Al-Hafiz Bakhit, who said the living situation in el-Fasher had become unbearable.

Bakhit is aligned with Sudan’s military-led government, which is trying to retain control of the city, its last foothold in Darfur.

The RSF’s battle to seize el-Fasher from the Sudanese army has intensified in recent months, after the paramilitaries were driven out of the capital, Khartoum.

UN statistics in early July showed that 38% of children under the age of five in camps for internally displaced people within and near el-Fasher suffered from acute malnutrition.

The WFP said severe food shortages had drastically driven up prices for scarce supplies in el-Fasher, and cited reports that people were eating animal fodder and food waste to try to survive.

The agency did not name the party responsible – but the RSF has cut trade routes and blocked supply lines to the city.

“Everyone in el-Fasher is facing a daily struggle to survive,” said Eric Perdison, WFP’s regional director for eastern and southern Africa.

“People’s coping mechanisms have been completely exhausted by over two years of war. Without immediate and sustained access, lives will be lost,” he added.

The agency quoted an eight-year-old girl, Sondos, who had fled the city with five family members.

“In el-Fasher there was a lot of shelling and hunger. Only hunger and bombs,” the girl said, adding that the family had been surviving on only millet.

The WFP said it had trucks loaded with food and nutrition assistance ready to go, and had received clearance from the Sudanese government to proceed to el-Fasher.

It is still waiting for word from the RSF on whether it would support a pause in fighting to allow the goods into the city.

The UN has been pushing for a week-long humanitarian truce since early June, when a UN convoy on the way to el-Fasher was attacked – with the army and the RSF blaming each other for the strike.

Sudan’s state news agency reported that head of the armed forces Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan – the country’s de facto leader – had agreed to the temporary ceasefire.

The RSF did not officially respond. However, reports quoting RSF advisers said the group had rejected the initiative as it believed the truce would be used to facilitate the delivery of food and ammunition to “Burhan’s besieged militias” inside el-Fasher.

They also claimed the RSF and its allies were setting up “safe routes” for civilians to leave the city.

Last month the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said more than one million people had fled el-Fasher since the conflict began, including those from the nearby Zamzam camp that was seized by the RSF in April.

The BBC has heard first-hand accounts of their desperate flight from intensified bombing of el-Fasher, and attacks by RSF-allied gangs on the road.

The WFP said it had made modest progress in delivering food assistance to some other parts of Darfur, but said those fragile gains risked being reversed when roads were closed by the coming rainy season.

Unicef’s Sudan representative Sheldon Yett also said some conditions were slowly improving in areas of central Sudan, which had recently become accessible to aid workers after the Sudanese army drove out RSF fighters.

But he said resources were stretched to the limit because of recent funding cuts, apparently referring to US President Donald Trump administration’s drastic decrease in international aid.

“It is a looming catastrophe,” he said.

“We are on the verge of irreversible damage to an entire generation of children, not because we lack the knowledge or the tools to save them, but because we are collectively failing to act with the urgency, and at the scale this crisis demands. We need access to these children.”

The UN’s food agency has warned that families trapped within the besieged Sudanese city of el-Fasher face starvation.

The World Food Programme (WFP) said it had not been able to deliver food to the city in the western Darfur region by road for more than a year.

El-Fasher has been surrounded by paramilitary fighters from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for nearly 16 months – determined to seize it from Sudan’s army.

The WFP warning comes as local activists have already begun reporting deaths by starvation in the city, which is still home to about 300,000 people.

Sudan was plunged into a civil war in April 2023 after a vicious power struggle erupted between the army and its former ally, the RSF – creating one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

The UN’s children’s agency (Unicef) has also issued a statement saying malnutrition is rife across the country, with many children “reduced to skin and bones”.

The WFP warning echoes a recent appeal for urgent support from the North Darfur Governor Al-Hafiz Bakhit, who said the living situation in el-Fasher had become unbearable.

Bakhit is aligned with Sudan’s military-led government, which is trying to retain control of the city, its last foothold in Darfur.

The RSF’s battle to seize el-Fasher from the Sudanese army has intensified in recent months, after the paramilitaries were driven out of the capital, Khartoum.

UN statistics in early July showed that 38% of children under the age of five in camps for internally displaced people within and near el-Fasher suffered from acute malnutrition.

The WFP said severe food shortages had drastically driven up prices for scarce supplies in el-Fasher, and cited reports that people were eating animal fodder and food waste to try to survive.

The agency did not name the party responsible – but the RSF has cut trade routes and blocked supply lines to the city.

“Everyone in el-Fasher is facing a daily struggle to survive,” said Eric Perdison, WFP’s regional director for eastern and southern Africa.

“People’s coping mechanisms have been completely exhausted by over two years of war. Without immediate and sustained access, lives will be lost,” he added.

The agency quoted an eight-year-old girl, Sondos, who had fled the city with five family members.

“In el-Fasher there was a lot of shelling and hunger. Only hunger and bombs,” the girl said, adding that the family had been surviving on only millet.

The WFP said it had trucks loaded with food and nutrition assistance ready to go, and had received clearance from the Sudanese government to proceed to el-Fasher.

It is still waiting for word from the RSF on whether it would support a pause in fighting to allow the goods into the city.

The UN has been pushing for a week-long humanitarian truce since early June, when a UN convoy on the way to el-Fasher was attacked – with the army and the RSF blaming each other for the strike.

Sudan’s state news agency reported that head of the armed forces Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan – the country’s de facto leader – had agreed to the temporary ceasefire.

The RSF did not officially respond. However, reports quoting RSF advisers said the group had rejected the initiative as it believed the truce would be used to facilitate the delivery of food and ammunition to “Burhan’s besieged militias” inside el-Fasher.

They also claimed the RSF and its allies were setting up “safe routes” for civilians to leave the city.

Last month the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said more than one million people had fled el-Fasher since the conflict began, including those from the nearby Zamzam camp that was seized by the RSF in April.

The BBC has heard first-hand accounts of their desperate flight from intensified bombing of el-Fasher, and attacks by RSF-allied gangs on the road.

The WFP said it had made modest progress in delivering food assistance to some other parts of Darfur, but said those fragile gains risked being reversed when roads were closed by the coming rainy season.

Unicef’s Sudan representative Sheldon Yett also said some conditions were slowly improving in areas of central Sudan, which had recently become accessible to aid workers after the Sudanese army drove out RSF fighters.

But he said resources were stretched to the limit because of recent funding cuts, apparently referring to US President Donald Trump administration’s drastic decrease in international aid.

“It is a looming catastrophe,” he said.

“We are on the verge of irreversible damage to an entire generation of children, not because we lack the knowledge or the tools to save them, but because we are collectively failing to act with the urgency, and at the scale this crisis demands. We need access to these children.”

The UN’s food agency has warned that families trapped within the besieged Sudanese city of el-Fasher face starvation.

The World Food Programme (WFP) said it had not been able to deliver food to the city in the western Darfur region by road for more than a year.

El-Fasher has been surrounded by paramilitary fighters from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for nearly 16 months – determined to seize it from Sudan’s army.

The WFP warning comes as local activists have already begun reporting deaths by starvation in the city, which is still home to about 300,000 people.

Sudan was plunged into a civil war in April 2023 after a vicious power struggle erupted between the army and its former ally, the RSF – creating one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

The UN’s children’s agency (Unicef) has also issued a statement saying malnutrition is rife across the country, with many children “reduced to skin and bones”.

The WFP warning echoes a recent appeal for urgent support from the North Darfur Governor Al-Hafiz Bakhit, who said the living situation in el-Fasher had become unbearable.

Bakhit is aligned with Sudan’s military-led government, which is trying to retain control of the city, its last foothold in Darfur.

The RSF’s battle to seize el-Fasher from the Sudanese army has intensified in recent months, after the paramilitaries were driven out of the capital, Khartoum.

UN statistics in early July showed that 38% of children under the age of five in camps for internally displaced people within and near el-Fasher suffered from acute malnutrition.

The WFP said severe food shortages had drastically driven up prices for scarce supplies in el-Fasher, and cited reports that people were eating animal fodder and food waste to try to survive.

The agency did not name the party responsible – but the RSF has cut trade routes and blocked supply lines to the city.

“Everyone in el-Fasher is facing a daily struggle to survive,” said Eric Perdison, WFP’s regional director for eastern and southern Africa.

“People’s coping mechanisms have been completely exhausted by over two years of war. Without immediate and sustained access, lives will be lost,” he added.

The agency quoted an eight-year-old girl, Sondos, who had fled the city with five family members.

“In el-Fasher there was a lot of shelling and hunger. Only hunger and bombs,” the girl said, adding that the family had been surviving on only millet.

The WFP said it had trucks loaded with food and nutrition assistance ready to go, and had received clearance from the Sudanese government to proceed to el-Fasher.

It is still waiting for word from the RSF on whether it would support a pause in fighting to allow the goods into the city.

The UN has been pushing for a week-long humanitarian truce since early June, when a UN convoy on the way to el-Fasher was attacked – with the army and the RSF blaming each other for the strike.

Sudan’s state news agency reported that head of the armed forces Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan – the country’s de facto leader – had agreed to the temporary ceasefire.

The RSF did not officially respond. However, reports quoting RSF advisers said the group had rejected the initiative as it believed the truce would be used to facilitate the delivery of food and ammunition to “Burhan’s besieged militias” inside el-Fasher.

They also claimed the RSF and its allies were setting up “safe routes” for civilians to leave the city.

Last month the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said more than one million people had fled el-Fasher since the conflict began, including those from the nearby Zamzam camp that was seized by the RSF in April.

The BBC has heard first-hand accounts of their desperate flight from intensified bombing of el-Fasher, and attacks by RSF-allied gangs on the road.

The WFP said it had made modest progress in delivering food assistance to some other parts of Darfur, but said those fragile gains risked being reversed when roads were closed by the coming rainy season.

Unicef’s Sudan representative Sheldon Yett also said some conditions were slowly improving in areas of central Sudan, which had recently become accessible to aid workers after the Sudanese army drove out RSF fighters.

But he said resources were stretched to the limit because of recent funding cuts, apparently referring to US President Donald Trump administration’s drastic decrease in international aid.

“It is a looming catastrophe,” he said.

“We are on the verge of irreversible damage to an entire generation of children, not because we lack the knowledge or the tools to save them, but because we are collectively failing to act with the urgency, and at the scale this crisis demands. We need access to these children.”

The UN’s food agency has warned that families trapped within the besieged Sudanese city of el-Fasher face starvation.

The World Food Programme (WFP) said it had not been able to deliver food to the city in the western Darfur region by road for more than a year.

El-Fasher has been surrounded by paramilitary fighters from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for nearly 16 months – determined to seize it from Sudan’s army.

The WFP warning comes as local activists have already begun reporting deaths by starvation in the city, which is still home to about 300,000 people.

Sudan was plunged into a civil war in April 2023 after a vicious power struggle erupted between the army and its former ally, the RSF – creating one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

The UN’s children’s agency (Unicef) has also issued a statement saying malnutrition is rife across the country, with many children “reduced to skin and bones”.

The WFP warning echoes a recent appeal for urgent support from the North Darfur Governor Al-Hafiz Bakhit, who said the living situation in el-Fasher had become unbearable.

Bakhit is aligned with Sudan’s military-led government, which is trying to retain control of the city, its last foothold in Darfur.

The RSF’s battle to seize el-Fasher from the Sudanese army has intensified in recent months, after the paramilitaries were driven out of the capital, Khartoum.

UN statistics in early July showed that 38% of children under the age of five in camps for internally displaced people within and near el-Fasher suffered from acute malnutrition.

The WFP said severe food shortages had drastically driven up prices for scarce supplies in el-Fasher, and cited reports that people were eating animal fodder and food waste to try to survive.

The agency did not name the party responsible – but the RSF has cut trade routes and blocked supply lines to the city.

“Everyone in el-Fasher is facing a daily struggle to survive,” said Eric Perdison, WFP’s regional director for eastern and southern Africa.

“People’s coping mechanisms have been completely exhausted by over two years of war. Without immediate and sustained access, lives will be lost,” he added.

The agency quoted an eight-year-old girl, Sondos, who had fled the city with five family members.

“In el-Fasher there was a lot of shelling and hunger. Only hunger and bombs,” the girl said, adding that the family had been surviving on only millet.

The WFP said it had trucks loaded with food and nutrition assistance ready to go, and had received clearance from the Sudanese government to proceed to el-Fasher.

It is still waiting for word from the RSF on whether it would support a pause in fighting to allow the goods into the city.

The UN has been pushing for a week-long humanitarian truce since early June, when a UN convoy on the way to el-Fasher was attacked – with the army and the RSF blaming each other for the strike.

Sudan’s state news agency reported that head of the armed forces Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan – the country’s de facto leader – had agreed to the temporary ceasefire.

The RSF did not officially respond. However, reports quoting RSF advisers said the group had rejected the initiative as it believed the truce would be used to facilitate the delivery of food and ammunition to “Burhan’s besieged militias” inside el-Fasher.

They also claimed the RSF and its allies were setting up “safe routes” for civilians to leave the city.

Last month the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said more than one million people had fled el-Fasher since the conflict began, including those from the nearby Zamzam camp that was seized by the RSF in April.

The BBC has heard first-hand accounts of their desperate flight from intensified bombing of el-Fasher, and attacks by RSF-allied gangs on the road.

The WFP said it had made modest progress in delivering food assistance to some other parts of Darfur, but said those fragile gains risked being reversed when roads were closed by the coming rainy season.

Unicef’s Sudan representative Sheldon Yett also said some conditions were slowly improving in areas of central Sudan, which had recently become accessible to aid workers after the Sudanese army drove out RSF fighters.

But he said resources were stretched to the limit because of recent funding cuts, apparently referring to US President Donald Trump administration’s drastic decrease in international aid.

“It is a looming catastrophe,” he said.

“We are on the verge of irreversible damage to an entire generation of children, not because we lack the knowledge or the tools to save them, but because we are collectively failing to act with the urgency, and at the scale this crisis demands. We need access to these children.”

For over a month, Khaldun Hamad had refrained from heading toward the Zikim Crossing in northern Gaza to try to secure a bag of flour or other humanitarian aid.

It wasn’t that he didn’t need the food, but Hamad didn’t want to take the risk that came with making the trek some 10 kilometers northeast from his tent encampment.

The UN and other international organizations have been transporting trucks of aid from an IDF-guarded lot on the Gaza side of Zikim to warehouses and distribution sites elsewhere in the northern Strip.

But recent weeks have seen thousands of desperate Palestinians rushing the trucks shortly after they leave Zikim, climbing on top of the freight and frantically tearing open boxes to grab whatever food they can.

In the month of July, the overwhelming majority of UN aid was looted before it reached its intended destination. While aid has been trickling into Gaza over the past two months, the Israeli blockade that extended for the preceding 78 days brought food insecurity to dire levels, with many Palestinians too worried about finding their next meal to allow aid trucks to just pass by without stopping them.

The chaotic scenes near Zikim are similar to what unfolds at the three distribution sites operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in southern and central Gaza, where thousands of Palestinians fling through entrance gates and ransack boxes of food that are emptied minutes after distribution begins each day.

Over half a million people in #Gaza are already enduring famine-like conditions.

WFP is doing everything possible to distribute vital food assistance to families.

To safely and consistently reach ALL those at risk of starvation, we need a ceasefire – NOW. pic.twitter.com/fpgPI2SL9C

— World Food Programme (@WFP) August 3, 2025

Weaker segments of the population most in need of aid are left empty-handed, while the strongest men win out — that is, if they make it there and back unscathed amid near-daily reports of the IDF opening fire on aid seekers.

The army contends that casualty numbers from such incidents reported by the Hamas-run health ministry are inflated, that it is sometimes Hamas operatives or other gunmen who are shooting at people trying to obtain aid, and that it only fires “warning shots” at those who pose a threat to troops.

Having heard many stories from family and friends about those killed or wounded trying to secure aid, 30-year-old Hamad has instead preferred purchasing aid from makeshift markets and street vendors. With Israel blocking almost all commercial goods from entering Gaza, much of what is sold is diverted aid, and costs have risen massively due to low supply and high demand.

Remarkable @nytimes graphic on soaring food prices in Gaza. Sugar is up by 11,810% from pre-war levels; flour, by 2,950%. Catastrophic for Gazans. And a reminder that Israel’s aid policy has (predictably) failed to achieve its own stated goal of eliminating the black market. ???? pic.twitter.com/ST9EDVdcsa

— Gregg Carlstrom (@glcarlstrom) August 1, 2025

To afford this food, Hamad and many other Gazans have started online fundraising campaigns that they have attached to their social media accounts.

But with the banking system in Gaza all but collapsed due to the war, those looking to deposit shekels must go through individuals Hamad characterized as “thieves” who have stockpiled cash and only agree to release it for commission rates as high as fifty percent.

Risking your life for a bag of flour

Hamad has lost roughly 13 kilograms (28 pounds) since the beginning of the war and has been eating between one and two meals a day for the past several months.

Last Thursday, the cost of purchasing food finally outweighed the relative safety of avoiding distribution sites for Hamad, and he set out for Zikim, determined to provide food for his wife and mother, who was wounded by Israeli gunfire while sitting outside their tent earlier in the war.

“I walked for 10 kilometers in the scorching sun just to try and bring back a bag of flour,” Hamad recalled in a phone interview with The Times of Israel.

He reached a point near Zikim where a crowd of roughly 10,000 Palestinians had already gathered in anticipation of an aid convoy’s arrival.

Before the trucks even reached the throng, Hamad claimed Israeli soldiers began opening fire “directly at us.”

A young man standing several meters away from Hamad was shot in the chest and crumbled to the ground.

The wounded man tugged at Hamad’s arm, begging him to save him and bring him to a hospital.

While exhausted and desperate to try to retrieve some aid, Hamad and another friend agreed to help, carrying the man for about a mile until they flagged down a tuk-tuk driver who agreed to finish the evacuation for NIS 100 ($29).

لحظات مرعبة إطلاق النار على المواطنين في غزة أثناء محاولتهم الوصول الى المساعدات الأمريكية في مشهد يجسد الخطر الذي يلاحق الجوعى حتى في بحثهم عن لقمة نجاة pic.twitter.com/Go0kUMj1UT

— ألأحداث ألإيرانية بالعربية (@_iraninarabic) August 4, 2025

In response to a query on the matter, the IDF said its troops fired “warning shots” after troops “perceived a threat” and tried and disperse a crowd of thousands that had gathered near aid trucks in northern Gaza.

The IDF stressed that it did not fire into the gathering and that while the matter is still being probed, initial findings did not include an identification of any casualties as a result of IDF fire. A military source added that gunshots were also heard from within the crowd.

“The IDF attaches the utmost importance to the transfer of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, works to enable and facilitate the transfer of aid in coordination with the international community, and certainly does not deliberately act against [those being served by] humanitarian aid trucks,” an IDF statement said.

Still determined to secure some aid, Hamad then went back to his original destination near Zikim only to see the crowd stampeding toward four trucks that had arrived from the crossing.

He tried to grab a bag of flour, but was knocked to the ground, as gunfire continued to ring out. The trucks pushed through the crowd, and one of them nearly ran over Hamad’s leg. When he stood up, the convoy had passed, and everything he could see was covered in flour and dust.

Utterly dejected, Hamad walked back to his tent barefoot, having lost his shoes amid the havoc.

“My eyes were drowning in tears — not because of the flour, but because of the humiliation,” he said. “Could you imagine risking your life like this just for a bag of flour?”

Still desperate, Hamad went back toward the Zikim Crossing the next day. This time, he encountered a man who had already secured a large bag of flour but was having a hard time carrying it and agreed to share a portion if Hamad agreed to help.

Hamad made it home again. This time, with some flour.

Gaza’s influencers

Unlike Hamad, Abdullah lives within relatively easy walking distance of the GHF distribution sites.

However, similar safety concerns have kept him away from the free boxes of food. Abdullah — who requested that his real name not be publicized in Israeli media due to fears for his safety — said his cousin had been killed while trying to reach a GHF site in June.

Accordingly, the 19-year-old has worked to come up with enough money to cover food costs and commission by setting up a TikTok account documenting his life in Gaza. He has amassed tens of thousands of followers, many of whom have donated through the link in his bio. It’s a strategy that has been adopted by many others in the enclave, where becoming an influencer is one of the few remaining occupations.

“For now, I’ve been able to help provide some money for my parents and three siblings, so that we don’t have to risk our lives at those ‘death traps,’” Abdullah said, referring to the GHF distribution centers.

GHF insists that its sites are safe and boasts having distributed over 100 million meals since it began operating in late May. But that figure is counted by adding up the caloric value of the various dried food products inside the handed out boxes, which require cooking fuel, equipment and potable water — all extremely scarce in the war-torn Strip.

The conversation with Abdullah was cut short after the wifi went down at a cafe near the Mawasi coastal zone, where he spends much of his days because cell service elsewhere is not as strong.

‘We’re some of the lucky ones’

Like Abdullah, Reef also lives in southern Gaza closer to GHF sites, and he did make the trek to them twice in June from an apartment that he and his father are sharing with another displaced family in Khan Younis.

Both times, the 27-year-old was unable to beat out the thousands of others who had headed to the site, and he returned home with nothing.

For the time being, he and his father have been able to pay for food, rather than relying on humanitarian aid.

“But we’re some of the lucky ones,” Reef said, expressing hope for a ceasefire and explaining that the aid situation stabilized during the previous truce, when several hundred trucks entered Gaza each day for distribution at hundreds of sites — most of which are no longer operational amid the gradual breakdown of law and order in the Strip.

Reef too declined to publicize his last name due to what he said were safety concerns.

Hamad had a different approach and insisted on speaking on the record.

“I don’t want to die in silence. I want the people [to] know [about] our suffering. I want to feel that there [is] some humanity in this world [and that] there are people who do not support collective punishment,” he said.

The phone interview was held shortly after the Hamas terror group released a video of Evyatar David, showing the Israeli hostage emaciated and forced to dig what could become his own grave.

Asked for his reaction to the clip, Hamad responded: “I feel sorry for him and sorry for us. We don’t want them to suffer, and we don’t want to suffer ourselves.”

Israeli officials retort that David and the other hostages are being intentionally starved by their captors, whereas Jerusalem is allowing aid to enter the Strip, and Hamas diverts the aid from civilians. They point out that other adults in Gaza have typically lost far less weight than David has.

Disputing that framing, Hamad insisted that “Gaza is also being starved.”

For over a month, Khaldun Hamad had refrained from heading toward the Zikim Crossing in northern Gaza to try to secure a bag of flour or other humanitarian aid.

It wasn’t that he didn’t need the food, but Hamad didn’t want to take the risk that came with making the trek some 10 kilometers northeast from his tent encampment.

The UN and other international organizations have been transporting trucks of aid from an IDF-guarded lot on the Gaza side of Zikim to warehouses and distribution sites elsewhere in the northern Strip.

But recent weeks have seen thousands of desperate Palestinians rushing the trucks shortly after they leave Zikim, climbing on top of the freight and frantically tearing open boxes to grab whatever food they can.

In the month of July, the overwhelming majority of UN aid was looted before it reached its intended destination. While aid has been trickling into Gaza over the past two months, the Israeli blockade that extended for the preceding 78 days brought food insecurity to dire levels, with many Palestinians too worried about finding their next meal to allow aid trucks to just pass by without stopping them.

The chaotic scenes near Zikim are similar to what unfolds at the three distribution sites operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in southern and central Gaza, where thousands of Palestinians fling through entrance gates and ransack boxes of food that are emptied minutes after distribution begins each day.

Over half a million people in #Gaza are already enduring famine-like conditions.

WFP is doing everything possible to distribute vital food assistance to families.

To safely and consistently reach ALL those at risk of starvation, we need a ceasefire – NOW. pic.twitter.com/fpgPI2SL9C

— World Food Programme (@WFP) August 3, 2025

Weaker segments of the population most in need of aid are left empty-handed, while the strongest men win out — that is, if they make it there and back unscathed amid near-daily reports of the IDF opening fire on aid seekers.

The army contends that casualty numbers from such incidents reported by the Hamas-run health ministry are inflated, that it is sometimes Hamas operatives or other gunmen who are shooting at people trying to obtain aid, and that it only fires “warning shots” at those who pose a threat to troops.

Having heard many stories from family and friends about those killed or wounded trying to secure aid, 30-year-old Hamad has instead preferred purchasing aid from makeshift markets and street vendors. With Israel blocking almost all commercial goods from entering Gaza, much of what is sold is diverted aid, and costs have risen massively due to low supply and high demand.

Remarkable @nytimes graphic on soaring food prices in Gaza. Sugar is up by 11,810% from pre-war levels; flour, by 2,950%. Catastrophic for Gazans. And a reminder that Israel’s aid policy has (predictably) failed to achieve its own stated goal of eliminating the black market. ???? pic.twitter.com/ST9EDVdcsa

— Gregg Carlstrom (@glcarlstrom) August 1, 2025

To afford this food, Hamad and many other Gazans have started online fundraising campaigns that they have attached to their social media accounts.

But with the banking system in Gaza all but collapsed due to the war, those looking to deposit shekels must go through individuals Hamad characterized as “thieves” who have stockpiled cash and only agree to release it for commission rates as high as fifty percent.

Risking your life for a bag of flour

Hamad has lost roughly 13 kilograms (28 pounds) since the beginning of the war and has been eating between one and two meals a day for the past several months.

Last Thursday, the cost of purchasing food finally outweighed the relative safety of avoiding distribution sites for Hamad, and he set out for Zikim, determined to provide food for his wife and mother, who was wounded by Israeli gunfire while sitting outside their tent earlier in the war.

“I walked for 10 kilometers in the scorching sun just to try and bring back a bag of flour,” Hamad recalled in a phone interview with The Times of Israel.

He reached a point near Zikim where a crowd of roughly 10,000 Palestinians had already gathered in anticipation of an aid convoy’s arrival.

Before the trucks even reached the throng, Hamad claimed Israeli soldiers began opening fire “directly at us.”

A young man standing several meters away from Hamad was shot in the chest and crumbled to the ground.

The wounded man tugged at Hamad’s arm, begging him to save him and bring him to a hospital.

While exhausted and desperate to try to retrieve some aid, Hamad and another friend agreed to help, carrying the man for about a mile until they flagged down a tuk-tuk driver who agreed to finish the evacuation for NIS 100 ($29).

لحظات مرعبة إطلاق النار على المواطنين في غزة أثناء محاولتهم الوصول الى المساعدات الأمريكية في مشهد يجسد الخطر الذي يلاحق الجوعى حتى في بحثهم عن لقمة نجاة pic.twitter.com/Go0kUMj1UT

— ألأحداث ألإيرانية بالعربية (@_iraninarabic) August 4, 2025

In response to a query on the matter, the IDF said its troops fired “warning shots” after troops “perceived a threat” and tried and disperse a crowd of thousands that had gathered near aid trucks in northern Gaza.

The IDF stressed that it did not fire into the gathering and that while the matter is still being probed, initial findings did not include an identification of any casualties as a result of IDF fire. A military source added that gunshots were also heard from within the crowd.

“The IDF attaches the utmost importance to the transfer of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, works to enable and facilitate the transfer of aid in coordination with the international community, and certainly does not deliberately act against [those being served by] humanitarian aid trucks,” an IDF statement said.

Still determined to secure some aid, Hamad then went back to his original destination near Zikim only to see the crowd stampeding toward four trucks that had arrived from the crossing.

He tried to grab a bag of flour, but was knocked to the ground, as gunfire continued to ring out. The trucks pushed through the crowd, and one of them nearly ran over Hamad’s leg. When he stood up, the convoy had passed, and everything he could see was covered in flour and dust.

Utterly dejected, Hamad walked back to his tent barefoot, having lost his shoes amid the havoc.

“My eyes were drowning in tears — not because of the flour, but because of the humiliation,” he said. “Could you imagine risking your life like this just for a bag of flour?”

Still desperate, Hamad went back toward the Zikim Crossing the next day. This time, he encountered a man who had already secured a large bag of flour but was having a hard time carrying it and agreed to share a portion if Hamad agreed to help.

Hamad made it home again. This time, with some flour.

Gaza’s influencers

Unlike Hamad, Abdullah lives within relatively easy walking distance of the GHF distribution sites.

However, similar safety concerns have kept him away from the free boxes of food. Abdullah — who requested that his real name not be publicized in Israeli media due to fears for his safety — said his cousin had been killed while trying to reach a GHF site in June.

Accordingly, the 19-year-old has worked to come up with enough money to cover food costs and commission by setting up a TikTok account documenting his life in Gaza. He has amassed tens of thousands of followers, many of whom have donated through the link in his bio. It’s a strategy that has been adopted by many others in the enclave, where becoming an influencer is one of the few remaining occupations.

“For now, I’ve been able to help provide some money for my parents and three siblings, so that we don’t have to risk our lives at those ‘death traps,’” Abdullah said, referring to the GHF distribution centers.

GHF insists that its sites are safe and boasts having distributed over 100 million meals since it began operating in late May. But that figure is counted by adding up the caloric value of the various dried food products inside the handed out boxes, which require cooking fuel, equipment and potable water — all extremely scarce in the war-torn Strip.

The conversation with Abdullah was cut short after the wifi went down at a cafe near the Mawasi coastal zone, where he spends much of his days because cell service elsewhere is not as strong.

‘We’re some of the lucky ones’

Like Abdullah, Reef also lives in southern Gaza closer to GHF sites, and he did make the trek to them twice in June from an apartment that he and his father are sharing with another displaced family in Khan Younis.

Both times, the 27-year-old was unable to beat out the thousands of others who had headed to the site, and he returned home with nothing.

For the time being, he and his father have been able to pay for food, rather than relying on humanitarian aid.

“But we’re some of the lucky ones,” Reef said, expressing hope for a ceasefire and explaining that the aid situation stabilized during the previous truce, when several hundred trucks entered Gaza each day for distribution at hundreds of sites — most of which are no longer operational amid the gradual breakdown of law and order in the Strip.

Reef too declined to publicize his last name due to what he said were safety concerns.

Hamad had a different approach and insisted on speaking on the record.

“I don’t want to die in silence. I want the people [to] know [about] our suffering. I want to feel that there [is] some humanity in this world [and that] there are people who do not support collective punishment,” he said.

The phone interview was held shortly after the Hamas terror group released a video of Evyatar David, showing the Israeli hostage emaciated and forced to dig what could become his own grave.

Asked for his reaction to the clip, Hamad responded: “I feel sorry for him and sorry for us. We don’t want them to suffer, and we don’t want to suffer ourselves.”

Israeli officials retort that David and the other hostages are being intentionally starved by their captors, whereas Jerusalem is allowing aid to enter the Strip, and Hamas diverts the aid from civilians. They point out that other adults in Gaza have typically lost far less weight than David has.

Disputing that framing, Hamad insisted that “Gaza is also being starved.”

For over a month, Khaldun Hamad had refrained from heading toward the Zikim Crossing in northern Gaza to try to secure a bag of flour or other humanitarian aid.

It wasn’t that he didn’t need the food, but Hamad didn’t want to take the risk that came with making the trek some 10 kilometers northeast from his tent encampment.

The UN and other international organizations have been transporting trucks of aid from an IDF-guarded lot on the Gaza side of Zikim to warehouses and distribution sites elsewhere in the northern Strip.

But recent weeks have seen thousands of desperate Palestinians rushing the trucks shortly after they leave Zikim, climbing on top of the freight and frantically tearing open boxes to grab whatever food they can.

In the month of July, the overwhelming majority of UN aid was looted before it reached its intended destination. While aid has been trickling into Gaza over the past two months, the Israeli blockade that extended for the preceding 78 days brought food insecurity to dire levels, with many Palestinians too worried about finding their next meal to allow aid trucks to just pass by without stopping them.

The chaotic scenes near Zikim are similar to what unfolds at the three distribution sites operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in southern and central Gaza, where thousands of Palestinians fling through entrance gates and ransack boxes of food that are emptied minutes after distribution begins each day.

Over half a million people in #Gaza are already enduring famine-like conditions.

WFP is doing everything possible to distribute vital food assistance to families.

To safely and consistently reach ALL those at risk of starvation, we need a ceasefire – NOW. pic.twitter.com/fpgPI2SL9C

— World Food Programme (@WFP) August 3, 2025

Weaker segments of the population most in need of aid are left empty-handed, while the strongest men win out — that is, if they make it there and back unscathed amid near-daily reports of the IDF opening fire on aid seekers.

The army contends that casualty numbers from such incidents reported by the Hamas-run health ministry are inflated, that it is sometimes Hamas operatives or other gunmen who are shooting at people trying to obtain aid, and that it only fires “warning shots” at those who pose a threat to troops.

Having heard many stories from family and friends about those killed or wounded trying to secure aid, 30-year-old Hamad has instead preferred purchasing aid from makeshift markets and street vendors. With Israel blocking almost all commercial goods from entering Gaza, much of what is sold is diverted aid, and costs have risen massively due to low supply and high demand.

Remarkable @nytimes graphic on soaring food prices in Gaza. Sugar is up by 11,810% from pre-war levels; flour, by 2,950%. Catastrophic for Gazans. And a reminder that Israel’s aid policy has (predictably) failed to achieve its own stated goal of eliminating the black market. ???? pic.twitter.com/ST9EDVdcsa

— Gregg Carlstrom (@glcarlstrom) August 1, 2025

To afford this food, Hamad and many other Gazans have started online fundraising campaigns that they have attached to their social media accounts.

But with the banking system in Gaza all but collapsed due to the war, those looking to deposit shekels must go through individuals Hamad characterized as “thieves” who have stockpiled cash and only agree to release it for commission rates as high as fifty percent.

Risking your life for a bag of flour

Hamad has lost roughly 13 kilograms (28 pounds) since the beginning of the war and has been eating between one and two meals a day for the past several months.

Last Thursday, the cost of purchasing food finally outweighed the relative safety of avoiding distribution sites for Hamad, and he set out for Zikim, determined to provide food for his wife and mother, who was wounded by Israeli gunfire while sitting outside their tent earlier in the war.

“I walked for 10 kilometers in the scorching sun just to try and bring back a bag of flour,” Hamad recalled in a phone interview with The Times of Israel.

He reached a point near Zikim where a crowd of roughly 10,000 Palestinians had already gathered in anticipation of an aid convoy’s arrival.

Before the trucks even reached the throng, Hamad claimed Israeli soldiers began opening fire “directly at us.”

A young man standing several meters away from Hamad was shot in the chest and crumbled to the ground.

The wounded man tugged at Hamad’s arm, begging him to save him and bring him to a hospital.

While exhausted and desperate to try to retrieve some aid, Hamad and another friend agreed to help, carrying the man for about a mile until they flagged down a tuk-tuk driver who agreed to finish the evacuation for NIS 100 ($29).

لحظات مرعبة إطلاق النار على المواطنين في غزة أثناء محاولتهم الوصول الى المساعدات الأمريكية في مشهد يجسد الخطر الذي يلاحق الجوعى حتى في بحثهم عن لقمة نجاة pic.twitter.com/Go0kUMj1UT

— ألأحداث ألإيرانية بالعربية (@_iraninarabic) August 4, 2025

In response to a query on the matter, the IDF said its troops fired “warning shots” after troops “perceived a threat” and tried and disperse a crowd of thousands that had gathered near aid trucks in northern Gaza.

The IDF stressed that it did not fire into the gathering and that while the matter is still being probed, initial findings did not include an identification of any casualties as a result of IDF fire. A military source added that gunshots were also heard from within the crowd.

“The IDF attaches the utmost importance to the transfer of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, works to enable and facilitate the transfer of aid in coordination with the international community, and certainly does not deliberately act against [those being served by] humanitarian aid trucks,” an IDF statement said.

Still determined to secure some aid, Hamad then went back to his original destination near Zikim only to see the crowd stampeding toward four trucks that had arrived from the crossing.

He tried to grab a bag of flour, but was knocked to the ground, as gunfire continued to ring out. The trucks pushed through the crowd, and one of them nearly ran over Hamad’s leg. When he stood up, the convoy had passed, and everything he could see was covered in flour and dust.

Utterly dejected, Hamad walked back to his tent barefoot, having lost his shoes amid the havoc.

“My eyes were drowning in tears — not because of the flour, but because of the humiliation,” he said. “Could you imagine risking your life like this just for a bag of flour?”

Still desperate, Hamad went back toward the Zikim Crossing the next day. This time, he encountered a man who had already secured a large bag of flour but was having a hard time carrying it and agreed to share a portion if Hamad agreed to help.

Hamad made it home again. This time, with some flour.

Gaza’s influencers

Unlike Hamad, Abdullah lives within relatively easy walking distance of the GHF distribution sites.

However, similar safety concerns have kept him away from the free boxes of food. Abdullah — who requested that his real name not be publicized in Israeli media due to fears for his safety — said his cousin had been killed while trying to reach a GHF site in June.

Accordingly, the 19-year-old has worked to come up with enough money to cover food costs and commission by setting up a TikTok account documenting his life in Gaza. He has amassed tens of thousands of followers, many of whom have donated through the link in his bio. It’s a strategy that has been adopted by many others in the enclave, where becoming an influencer is one of the few remaining occupations.

“For now, I’ve been able to help provide some money for my parents and three siblings, so that we don’t have to risk our lives at those ‘death traps,’” Abdullah said, referring to the GHF distribution centers.

GHF insists that its sites are safe and boasts having distributed over 100 million meals since it began operating in late May. But that figure is counted by adding up the caloric value of the various dried food products inside the handed out boxes, which require cooking fuel, equipment and potable water — all extremely scarce in the war-torn Strip.

The conversation with Abdullah was cut short after the wifi went down at a cafe near the Mawasi coastal zone, where he spends much of his days because cell service elsewhere is not as strong.

‘We’re some of the lucky ones’

Like Abdullah, Reef also lives in southern Gaza closer to GHF sites, and he did make the trek to them twice in June from an apartment that he and his father are sharing with another displaced family in Khan Younis.

Both times, the 27-year-old was unable to beat out the thousands of others who had headed to the site, and he returned home with nothing.

For the time being, he and his father have been able to pay for food, rather than relying on humanitarian aid.

“But we’re some of the lucky ones,” Reef said, expressing hope for a ceasefire and explaining that the aid situation stabilized during the previous truce, when several hundred trucks entered Gaza each day for distribution at hundreds of sites — most of which are no longer operational amid the gradual breakdown of law and order in the Strip.

Reef too declined to publicize his last name due to what he said were safety concerns.

Hamad had a different approach and insisted on speaking on the record.

“I don’t want to die in silence. I want the people [to] know [about] our suffering. I want to feel that there [is] some humanity in this world [and that] there are people who do not support collective punishment,” he said.

The phone interview was held shortly after the Hamas terror group released a video of Evyatar David, showing the Israeli hostage emaciated and forced to dig what could become his own grave.

Asked for his reaction to the clip, Hamad responded: “I feel sorry for him and sorry for us. We don’t want them to suffer, and we don’t want to suffer ourselves.”

Israeli officials retort that David and the other hostages are being intentionally starved by their captors, whereas Jerusalem is allowing aid to enter the Strip, and Hamas diverts the aid from civilians. They point out that other adults in Gaza have typically lost far less weight than David has.

Disputing that framing, Hamad insisted that “Gaza is also being starved.”

A search is underway for award-winning climate journalist Alec Luhn, who went missing on a Norwegian glacier during a solo backpacking trip on Thursday. 

Luhn’s wife told CBS News he left for a hike on July 31 in Odda, in southwestern Norway, and shared his location. 

She said her family wasn’t worried, because he’s an experienced outdoorsman. They expected he might not have cell service, but when he didn’t show up for his flight back home to the U.K. on Monday night, his wife and family called the police. 

His wife, Veronika Silchenko, said he sent a picture from his last known location in Odda, “and that was the last time I heard from him.” 

Rescue operations have been ongoing, but have been hampered by some inclement weather. 

His family wants to spread the word in the hopes that anyone hiking the same route will share any information with local authorities. 

“Alec is basically obsessed with the Arctic. He loves glaciers and snow, and he loves explorers, and he’s a climate journalist, so for him it is always that story that now because of the climate change they’re all shrinking, and he’s trying his best to go to the coldest countries,” Silchenko said. 

Luhn is based in London, but was born in Wisconsin. He has reported for outlets including The Atlantic, National Geographic, The New York Times, Scientific American, TIME, CBS News Radio, and VICE News TV.