In the midst of intense food shortages exacerbated by Israeli bombings and the obstruction of aid deliveries to Gaza, Palestinians are resorting to desperate measures to secure sustenance.
According to reports from Middle East Eye, a UK-based online news platform, residents in Gaza are mixing animal fodder and bird feed into their bread due to the scarcity of edible food.
Abu Alaa, the owner of a mill in central Gaza, expressed the urgency of the situation, stating, “Something should be done about this urgently.
“People are mixing bird feed and animal food into their food. This is not right, it’s not healthy. People are grinding this and mixing it into their bread,” he told Middle East Eye.
The dire circumstances have forced Abu Alaa to reduce the price of wheat, despite rising costs affecting everyone.
Abu Anas, a local residing near a mill, emphasised the unaffordability of any available food in Gaza.
Jaber, another local, explained that people are resorting to mixing different types of flour and various ingredients to make bread, even if the resulting product has an undesirable taste.
“Sometimes the bread is made and it comes out red or yellow because of the ingredients mixed in it,” Jaber disclosed, adding that this is not good for people’s health.
Mazen al-Terk, 50, described the situation as critical, stating,“By God, we have stopped differentiating between donkey food and human food. We are eating anything, and no one is helping us. We call on all countries around the world to stand with us, because we can’t find food.
“We haven’t had access to pure white flour for three months now, since 9 October when Israel imposed the full siege. People are picking things up from the floor to eat them. Any flour that can be found is for around 700 shekels,” he disclosed.
Palestinians revealed that using animal fodder in their bread, as well as other ingredients, has harmed their health, combined with the lack of clean water and lack of sanitation facilities.
“All of my children have stomach pains and diarrhoea, because of the food, water, and rubbish in the streets,” al-Terk lamented.