When Hunger Speaks Louder Than Words

As a mother of five and a grandmother, Amina should be spending her days in a cozy home surrounded by her family, with a warm plate on her table.

Instead, she struggles daily to survive in a makeshift tent in Khan Younis. “A tent is not a home,” she says. “But it’s all we have.”

For over two months, no humanitarian aid has been allowed to enter Gaza. Meanwhile, no commercial goods have been permitted to enter Gaza since October 2024.* Amina believes the closure of the crossings has turned this crisis into a catastrophe.

“If only the crossings were open, we could adapt to war,” she says. “We would find a way. But when everything is closed, when nothing comes in, how can we live?”

Each day brings fresh challenges. “Water is scarce. Bread is not available. There is never enough food. Firewood is almost impossible to find,” Amina explains. “Children are always sick. Malnutrition is eating away at their health.”

Before the heatwave, Amina could stretch one meal over two days. But now, with soaring temperatures, food spoils quickly.

“We don’t know if there will be anything to eat tomorrow,” she says.

In Arab culture, grandmothers show love by cooking for their grandchildren. In Gaza, grandmothers like Amina can only soothe with words when they’re crying from hunger.

The tragedy runs deeper: Gaza’s children now know the names of crossings points better than the names of cartoons.

Since the breakdown of ceasefire on 18 March until 27 May, more than 664,000 people have been displaced as of the time of this publication.

Nearly 11 weeks of aid blockade have left people in Gaza without food, fuel, medicine or shelter supplies.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), more than 80 per cent of the Gaza Strip is now under displacement orders or classified as militarized “no-go” zones, fueling mass displacement and obstructing access to lifesaving aid.

More than two million people across Gaza face acute food insecurity, with half a million already experiencing catastrophic hunger – conditions typically associated with famine.

Despite severe restrictions, humanitarian partners continue to deliver lifesaving assistance and essential services across Gaza where possible.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM), along with its UN and humanitarian partners on the ground, continues to call for safe, sustained humanitarian access.

Since October 2023, IOM has delivered over 1.5 million relief items, including shelter materials, blankets, and hygiene kits. An additional 5 million items remain prepositioned in IOM’s warehouses in Jordan, ready for immediate delivery as soon as entry points open and full humanitarian access is granted.

This story was written by Rayya Almuheisen, Senior Communications Assistant with IOM OPT.

*Note: This story was collected in early May 2025, during the full-scale aid blockade

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