GAZA, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have voiced urgent calls for the reopening of border crossings to ease deteriorating humanitarian conditions, as Israel's war on the enclave has been continuing for 22 months in a row.
Since March 2, when the first phase of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas ended, Israel has tightened its blockade on Gaza, sharply reducing the entry of food, fuel, and humanitarian aid.
Speaking separately to Xinhua, local residents and officials said the restrictions have pushed the enclave's 2.3 million people closer to famine.
Many Gazans told Xinhua they now rely on limited air-dropped aid or food parcels distributed by centers affiliated with the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
However, residents say these facilities cannot replace the reopening of crossings, which they view as the only sustainable solution.
In Gaza City's Shuja'iyya neighborhood, 52-year-old Abu Mohammed Baraka said parachuted aid is "insufficient and undignified."
He noted that competition over parcels often leads to disputes. "As soon as the parachutes fall, people rush toward them. Quarrels and even assaults happen because everyone is desperate," he said.
His wife and six children live entirely on aid, but he emphasized that "the real solution is to open the crossings so that people can buy their food like the rest of the world."
Displaced Palestinians voiced similar concerns. Ahmed al-Nawajha, a 29-year-old from Khan Younis whose father was killed in an Israeli airstrike, currently lives with his mother and four sisters in a school run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees.
He said his family survives on aid parcels, but reaching food distribution points remains risky.
"Sometimes planes drop aid in remote areas, and people may be killed while trying to reach it. This is why I was forced to go to the GHF centers despite the danger," he told Xinhua.
"We are not asking for luxuries. We only want the crossings to open so that we can live like people in the rest of the world," he said.
Umm Yousef Salama, a 38-year-old mother of four from Al-Shati refugee camp, described how her family sometimes receives only one cooked meal per day from a nearby aid center.
"It is not enough for all of us, but at least it prevents us from going hungry for a few hours," she said. Her teenage son occasionally risks going after parachuted aid, while she spends hours waiting in queues.
"We face two bitter choices: risk our lives under the planes or stand in line for hours at the centers, and in both cases, the food is never enough," she said.
Health authorities in Gaza reported on Wednesday that 22 people were killed and 49 others injured in the past 24 hours while attempting to obtain food aid.
Since late May, when U.S.-backed distribution centers began operations, at least 2,018 people have died and more than 14,947 have been injured in incidents linked to food scarcity and aid distribution, according to official data.
The authorities added that starvation- and malnutrition-related deaths have risen to 269, including 112 children, following three new deaths from malnutrition in the past 24 hours.
The overall death toll from the Israeli military campaign in Gaza has reached 62,122, with 156,758 others wounded since Oct. 7, 2023, according to Gaza's health authorities.
They added that since March 18, 10,576 people have been killed and 44,717 injured, illustrating the scale of recent escalations.
The closure of crossings has also prevented fuel deliveries, causing severe disruptions in hospitals, bakeries, and water stations. International organizations have sounded the alarm over the consequences of the restrictions.
At the same time, repeated Israeli threats of launching a new ground operation have heightened public fears.
Gaza-based political analyst Aahed Ferwana told Xinhua that such an operation "would worsen displacement and destruction."
He said that while Egypt and Qatar continue mediation efforts to restore a truce, "no breakthrough has been achieved so far."
Ismail al-Thawabta, head of the Hamas-run government media office in Gaza, highlighted the gap between humanitarian needs and actual aid deliveries.
"Before the war, around 600 trucks entered Gaza every day, while the Strip now requires nearly 1,000 trucks daily to meet the minimum needs of a population that has been facing famine since March," al-Thawabta told Xinhua.
He said that between Aug. 1 and Aug. 18, only 1,937 trucks entered Gaza, averaging far below daily requirements. "This means people's suffering continues, and their basic needs for food, medicine, and fuel remain unmet," he added. ■
