In the heart of Gaza City, Ahmed Dalloul wandered the markets in desperation, clutching a sack of flour bought at an exorbitant price. What he found inside — insects and decay — mirrored the slow collapse of daily life under an unrelenting siege. His attempts to return the rotten goods were met with indifference. “The stench was overwhelming, and the taste unbearable. I’ve lived through past famines, but I refuse to let my children endure this again,” he said quietly, his voice heavy with despair.

Across Gaza, families are locked in a silent, brutal struggle to survive. With Israeli forces maintaining a suffocating blockade, humanitarian aid remains blocked, and the little flour available is often contaminated or mouldy. For many, the choice is stark: eat spoiled food or endure starvation. Jihan Aslim, 50, recalled buying bread that tasted of mould, her face tightening at the memory. “There’s no other choice,” she said. “We eat what we can find, no matter how bad it is.”

The crisis is made worse by soaring prices that have placed basic staples far beyond reach. A bag of flour that once cost a few dollars now demands over a hundred, a cruel irony for a people stripped of their livelihoods. The blockade, renewed with deadly force in March, has pushed nearly 2.4 million Palestinians to the edge of famine, as fruits, vegetables, meat, and even clean water have all but vanished from daily life.

Behind every bag of worm-ridden flour lies a deeper story — of deliberate deprivation, of a people being starved into submission. Aid groups warn of a looming catastrophe, urging the world to act before Gaza's children pay the ultimate price. But for now, in the silent streets and abandoned markets, families like Dalloul’s are left with impossible choices, battling hunger, illness, and a world that looks away.