After more than six weeks since Israel reimposed a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians, the enclave has dived into the depths of a man-made famine and charity kitchens have become essential life-lines.
But these days, a queue for food has transformed into a queue to the grave.
On Monday, in Mawasi Khan Younis city, south of Gaza, an Israeli military drone attacked a gathering of people waiting for food from a local charitable kitchen called, "Merciful Hearts".
The Israeli attack instantly killed seven people and wounded at least 25 others, according to medical sources at Naser Hospital in Khan Younis.
A day later, the hospital announced that three of the wounded, including two children, had died.
"We were preparing food for dozens of displaced families in the area, who are struggling all the time to survive," Mohammed Yahya, the founder of "Merciful Hearts", said to The New Arab.
"Suddenly, The Israeli army attacked the place. At first, I did not realise what was happening around me. I only remember that a huge black cloud covered the area. After a few minutes, I heard screams everywhere, looked at myself, and found that I was wounded too," he recalled.
"People came for food, not war. They were hungry, not armed. But instead of receiving a meal, they were massacred," he added.
When Yahya returned to the site days later, he saw total devastation. The water tanks reduced to twisted metal, and massive cooking pots crushed or melted.
"But the worst part," he described, "was seeing the empty spaces where people used to smile at us, just grateful for a plate of food. They are gone now."
Among those injured by the Israeli attack was 43-year-old Ismail Jomaa, who had been helping to distribute food. A piece of shrapnel tore into his leg as children wailed and adults lay bleeding on the surrounding ground.
"I heard two massive explosions, then everything turned into smoke and screams," Jomaa remarked to TNA. "The scene was beyond horrific as the bodies everywhere, people screaming, children missing limbs. It looked like the end of the world; it was Judgment Day."
Deadly life-lines
For many displaced Palestinians, charity kitchens are essential life-lines. But now, even these places are no longer safe.
Um Mohammed Abdul Hadi, a mother from Beit Hanoun living in a tent near Khan Younis, said she is haunted by the latest Israeli attack.
"I used to send my children to the kitchen for food. But now? Never again. I would rather starve than see one of them die with a plastic food container in their hand," she told TNA.
The attack on the Merciful Hearts kitchen by Israel is not an isolated incident. Two weeks earlier, on 26 March, another Israeli airstrike struck near the Nuseirat charity kitchen in central Gaza, killing four and injuring 15.
Among the dead was Jalal Harb, a beloved community volunteer who had dedicated his life to feeding the displaced population.
"He was one of the rare people who truly cared about us," Nadira Abed, a devoted mother of six who relied on the kitchen to feed her little children, said to TNA. "We've lost a shining light in this darkness."
'Calculated starvation'
Since the beginning of Israel's genocidal war on 7 October 2023, the Israeli army has directly attacked at least 60 charity kitchens and aid centres, killing and wounding dozens of "innocent people," according to the Gaza-based government media office.
In a press statement, the office said, "the Israeli army is waging a comprehensive starvation campaign aimed at forcing Palestinians to either surrender or leave."
"Gaza is being killed not only by bombs but by calculated starvation. These attacks on food centres are not accidental. They are part of a clear and deliberate policy to dismantle civilian life—a blatant violation of international humanitarian law," it added.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) described the attacks as "documented war crimes."
In a press statement, the PCHR said that with bakeries closed for over a week and food supplies blocked, Palestinians confront a dual threat: bombings from above and starvation from within.
"The use of starvation as a weapon of war is not just cruel; it is genocidal," the PCHR added, calling on the International Criminal Court to hold Israeli officials accountable.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) previously warned that the deliberate starvation of civilians could constitute a war crime and grounds for prosecution.
Israel denies a hunger crisis exists. Its military claims the siege is necessary to prevent aid from reaching Palestinian resistance groups and accuses Hamas of exploiting humanitarian deliveries—a claim Gaza authorities deny. Israel's foreign ministry says thousands of trucks entered Gaza during a brief ceasefire before the total shutdown in March, framing its starvation policy as a security measure.
But rights groups and Palestinian officials say this is collective punishment—an intentional, inhumane tactic designed to break the spirit and survival of an entire people.
For now, Gaza's civilians are trapped between a blockade that keeps food out and airstrikes that destroy the few remaining places left to feed the hungry.
"Here, even the wait for food can get you killed," Hiba Hassan, a Palestinian woman in Gaza, told TNA. "How do you survive when everything meant to save you becomes a target?"