One third of the people of Gaza are going an entire day with no food. For the rest one meagre meal is all they have each day.
The Private Aid Distribution Centres being run by an Israeli/US consortium, are using food distribution as a lure. Once into these militarised zones people are easy targets. The figures for those being shot – killed and wounded – whilst trying to access food is shocking.
In a post on BlueSky:
549 Palestinians now killed in the last 30 days.
Itself shocking. But, EVERY SINGLE ONE WAS KILLED AT A FOOD AID STATION.
A unique war crime. Firing squads using aid as bait.
Palestinians in #Gaza face two choices: starve to death, or risk death to get food. @newseye.bsky.social
The food that is available – the one meal a day some are able to find – has very little nutritional value: thin broths, lentils or rice, one piece of bread or sometimes just a combination of herbs and olive oil known as duqqa.
On average since January, 112 children have been admitted on a daily basis for acute malnutrition.
Children waking in the night crying with hunger are told to drink water and close their eyes. Since 27 May, 549 Palestinians have been killed and 4,066 have been injured trying to access food.
A report published in the journal Nature, the first independent survey of deaths, estimates those who have died in Gaza since October 7th 2023 and up till January 2025 at 84,000.
The researchers estimate that in the 15 months up to 5 January, there were around 75,200 violent deaths in Gaza. Another 8,540 people died of non-violent causes as a result of the war.
On Saturday 28 June, Peace campaigners in Orkney will again meet on the Kirk Green, Broad Street, Kirkwall, between 1 and 2pm, calling for an immediate ceasefire.
The islanders welcome all to join with them who wish to see and end to the killing, the release of all hostages, and the unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid.
Since the end of May, the US-Israeli backed private consortium, Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), has been distributing aid in Gaza, bypassing the UN and established NGOs.
The UN has said Palestinians who seek aid from the GHF face threats of gunfire, shelling and stampedes.
“We don’t want to be out there. But what choice do we have? Our kids cry for food. We don’t sleep at night. We walk, wait, and hope we come back,” one Palestinian told WFP
Shu’fat Refugee Camp
For many years islanders in Orkney have raised money for children in Shu’fat Refugee Camp – including an event during Refugee Week last Sunday, and this Sunday there will be an Open Garden at Kirkhall in Sanday.
There has been increasing violence in Shu’fat Refugee Camp by Israeli forces and settlers. The camp is located in East Jerusalem.
In May 2025 heavily armed personnel entered the schools in Shu’fat refugee camp on Thursday while classes were in session, forcing more than 550 Palestinian girls and boys – some as young as six – out of their classrooms. A teacher was taken away. Roland Friedrich, Director for UNRWA Affairs in the West Bank, warned that Palestinian children face an “immediate risk” of losing their access to education.
Since then the schools have been closed meaning that 800 children and young people are without schooling.
The lunchtime event in Orkney at the St Magnus Centre raised £2,207.80 for children in Palestine.
Orkney Friends of Palestine and Amnesty Orkney who hosted the event said that 100 people attended with money being distributed as follows: Shu’fat £1,786.29 ; Hope and Play £2,101.54
Hope and Play operate in the villages and refugee camps under occupation in the Palestinian West Bank, Gaza Strip, and in Lebanon.
Mike Robertson filmed Saturday’s vigil for The Orkney News, which can be viewed here:
Fiona Grahame
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