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OPINION | SECTION

HUNGER IN THE MIDDLE EAST: Gaza, the most food-insecure population on Earth

I cried myself to sleep last night for the starving people of Gaza. But I also cry for those in Sudan, the Congo, Ukraine, Haiti, my Homeland—America—and too many others to name.

EARTH'S MOST STARVED Souls

In Gaza, mass confusion, confessions, and cries of hunger echo through the streets as food insecurity deepens. With Israel blocking vital aid, families face starvation and the suffering grows—turning daily survival into acts of resilience and faith.

By John Paul RoBeare | July 5, 2025

I was in the middle of writing a story on the Pope when Christiane Amanpour, the CNN’s British-Iranian journalist and television host appeared on my TV. The Chief International Anchor for CNN was broadcasting a special on hunger in Gaza and the effects of the war in the Middle East. Christiane’s report onscreen in my living room was as usual—delivered with style, truth, precision and gravity. The segment highlighted the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where millions are facing severe food insecurity, and for many, starvation.

Gaza is among the most densely populated areas in the world. By the end of 2024, its population was estimated at 2.1 million-a 6% drop from the prior year, largely due to the ongoing brutal war. What I saw on the screen was more than disturbing and being a humanitarian disaster—it was unbearable to watch: families running through Bombed-out streets in search of food, children digging through rubble, parents doing whatever they could to feed their young. The desperation was sickening and unpalpable as I watched the horrors of people starving from the comfort of my living room. 
  
My high-definition TV beamed these scenes in vivid color, while on the table in front of me sat my unfinished breakfast. I felt a deep, unshakable guilt. Especially as I thought about what someone in Gaza; a child, woman, or an elderly person would give for what I was about to throw away?

From small children to women and men, all urgently maneuver to secure a helping of food before it run out—a harsh reality faced daily under severe man made conditions in Gaza.

As I continued to watch these breathtaking scenes play out in my living room, a single tear slid down my face ever so slowly. It was as if the tear was intentionally moving at a snails pace, showing me it wasn’t just sorrow building up in me, but shame. It was my shame for being silent and not engaged in joining the [non-violent voices and protest] to call attention to the suffering on both sides of the unwarranted “continuation” of the Israel/Hamas war. 

Further, that tear forced me to confront a truth I had tried to ignore: I live in a world of selfishness, classism, and abundance, while millions are starving not because food is unavailable, but because it has been deliberately denied—not by good Israelis people and others, but the tyrannical few in power. Therefore, I too echo the words of Albert Einstein: To be silent in the face of injustice, you are just as complicit as those villainous and diabolical oppressors who prey on the weak. 

“I know hunger, I grew up poor in the inner city, and there were days we went without food. We had to drink water to trick our stomachs into feeling full as Hunger strips away your dignity. It isolates you, weakens your body, clouds your mind, and turns you into, at times, a mad man filled with desperation, as you hallucinate a world of you vs them. You not only resent them but those in your family and others you once befriended and loved. Unchecked hunger doesn’t just break the physical body—it breaks the mind and spirit.”
 
The signs of food insecurity are unmistakable: your stomach growls, the pain comes in waves, then lingers while headaches become constant. Your energy evaporates. You constantly feel dizzy and disoriented. Sleep almost vanishes. Stress continues to build while Mental health fractures. After a long delay, a series of serious health related problems ensue: thyroid dysfunction, diabetes, and a total collapse of the immune system. You become emaciated, and the people around you perceive you are already dead or hopelessly close to it, as they ignore your pleas for help.
 
Now close your eyes, and imagine not one person, not one family—but over two million people experiencing that level of suffering and hunger, day after day for more than 618 days. In that time period, over 62,000+ Palestinians murdered. That is Gaza today. No, it’s not from a famine caused by drought or a natural disaster. Neither is it caused by disease, or poor planning. It’s the direct result of war authorized by humans who lack the compassion or desire to stop it. 

A small Palestinian child stands in quite despair, unable to find food, wondering where his next meal will come from. Besides him, appears to be his sister, who gazes in disbelief, both caught in the harsh reality of hunger and uncertainty.

Gaza’s food supply chains have been obliterated. Its fragile infrastructure is unfortunately non-existent from the bombardment of bombs. Basic humanitarian aid have been purposely blocked or delayed on two fronts: the non-existing infrastructure and what appears to be the will of an authoritarian regime/war mongers. Livestock and pets, once part of a functioning local ecosystem, are dying alongside their human companions.
 
Yet, the the world continues to close its eyes to the crisis—not only in Gaza, but Sudan, the Congo, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Nigeria, Ukraine, and too many countries to name. 

“It is unfortunate, but today’s people have been desensitized and overexposed to the mayhem and corruption coming from every direction throughout the world. We’ve seen too many crying and hungry children, grief-stricken mothers and fathers, and more than enough dead bodies lying in the streets of Gaza, that we now look away. However, as difficult as it may be, we must not—because we are the only one’s left to lobby on behalf of the weak and disempowered.”
 

Hunger is preventable. But when war is waged without regard for civilian life, when food is used as leverage, and when silence becomes complicity–hunger becomes a weapon. And that’s exactly what is happening in Gaza.

It is not enough to feel bad. Sympathy without action is moral complacency and wrong. We must speak out, Demand access for aid. Demand an end to the blockade of food and medicine. Demand that global leaders treat this humanitarian crisis not as a tragedy to mourn, but as an injustice to stop. We are capable of better. We must be for the sakes of the many lives that depend on us. Lets stop these wars and the unnecessary carnage and inhuman treatment of our “fellow human beings” everywhere, and share the resources, as it is enough for all of God’s children. 

In a world of unimaginable wealth, no one should endure hunger like those in Gaza. Forced to line up for soup made from scraps, they remain among the world’s hungriest—forgotten and suffering amid plenty elsewhere.

Update:

July 23, 2025, In Gaza since the start of the war in October 2023, more than 59,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Over 17,000 of the reported deaths are children killed in Gaza reported by UNICEF. Aljazeera reported on July 22, 2025, that at least 101 Palestinians have died of starvation or malnutrition of which 82 being children—according to Enclave Hospital.

Photos by way of CNN