Palestinians are counting lentils, as Gaza food crisis worsens

Summary

Consider This from NPR: "Palestinians are Counting Lentils, as Gaza Food Crisis Worsens"

Release Date: May 14, 2025
Host: Juana Summers
Duration: Approximately 10 minutes of content

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1. Introduction to the Gaza Food Crisis

In the latest episode of NPR's Consider This, host Juana Summers delves into the escalating food crisis in Gaza, highlighting the severe impact of Israel's total blockade on humanitarian aid.

Juana Summers [00:00]: "For a lot of people living in Gaza, each day is centered on one goal: getting something in their stomachs to keep hunger at bay."

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2. Daily Struggles and Resource Scarcity

As Israel enforces a stringent blockade to limit aid inflow, families in Gaza are forced to resort to desperate measures to secure food. In the northern region of Jabalia, families are seen grinding small bags of lentils and beans into flour to make bread, a stark deviation from their traditional diet.

Mustafa Shaleel [00:45]: "Hamas bread made from lentil flour helps the hunger stay away longer."

Nadia Al Masri, a 60-year-old resident of Gaza, shares her harrowing experience of living in overcrowded conditions with her large family, emphasizing the profound hunger they endure.

Nadia Al Masri [01:30]: "This is the worst hunger my family has faced since the start of the war. Hunger is when your children cry themselves to sleep; they're too hungry. Why are you punishing everyone?"

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3. Israeli Blockade and Its Justifications

The blockade, imposed ten weeks prior, is Israel's attempt to pressure Hamas into releasing Israeli hostages. Israeli Finance Minister Betsal Smotrich articulates the government's unwavering stance against allowing any wheat into Gaza under Hamas's control.

Betsal Smotrich [01:55]: "Read my lips, read my lips. Not a single grain of wheat will enter if it ends up in Hamas hands."

This policy has led to severe shortages, with traditional staples like wheat flour nearly nonexistent, forcing residents to rely on less nutritious alternatives.

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4. International Criticism and Humanitarian Concerns

The international community, including aid organizations like UNICEF, has criticized Israel's approach. James Elder, spokesperson for UNICEF, condemns the use of humanitarian aid as leverage, highlighting the dire choices forced upon Gazans.

James Elder [03:27]: "The use of humanitarian aid as bait to force displacement creates an impossible choice between displacement and death."

Furthermore, a report from the International Panel of Famine Experts (IPC) warns that nearly half a million people in Gaza are facing starvation, a figure contested by the Israeli aid coordination agency.

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5. Insights from the World Food Program

Antoine Renard, the United Nations World Food Program's representative in the Palestinian territories, provides a sobering account of the situation on the ground.

Antoine Renard [05:11]: "It's actually difficult to find proper words to describe what is happening. After the ceasefire in mid-January, we were really as humanitarian for the first time practically since the beginning of the war, managing to reach the population at scale since the 2nd of March with a full closure now for more than 70 days."

Renard details the drastic reduction in meal distribution, from one million meals per day to a mere 250,000, and the exorbitant costs of basic food items.

Antoine Renard [05:58]: "Wheat flour, a bag of 25kg is actually now US$560."

He emphasizes the dire situation where families are forced to count lentils to ensure they have enough for minimal sustenance.

Antoine Renard [07:22]: "One of the families I was meeting last Sunday was telling me that they are actually with their kids counting the lentils so like that they actually removed... they were counting 16 lentils into the soup. And that's your main meal for the day."

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6. Legal and Ethical Implications

The blockade raises significant concerns regarding international humanitarian law. The episode explores whether Israel's actions constitute a violation, especially given the collective punishment of Gaza's civilian population.

Antoine Renard [07:59]: "The current period... we need to have the mediators for what is the current situation."

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7. Long-term Consequences and Humanitarian Appeal

Even if the blockade were lifted immediately, the prolonged deprivation has resulted in lasting malnutrition and health issues, particularly among children.

Antoine Renard [08:28]: "They don't have meat, they don't have dairy products, they don't have fish. There's no fruit anymore into Gaza. There's barely still some vegetables... it will clearly have a long term impact related to those that have been now 19 months into this conflict."

Renard underscores the importance of recognizing the humanity of Gaza's population and the necessity of ensuring their future amidst ongoing despair.

Antoine Renard [09:24]: "The most important for us is to remind that the population there have a human face. They actually are part of humanity and they deserve... to have a future."

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8. Conclusion

The episode poignantly highlights the severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza, driven by political blockades and exacerbated by inadequate international response. Through personal stories and expert insights, Consider This underscores the urgent need for sustainable solutions to alleviate the suffering of millions caught in the conflict.

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Produced by: Erica Ryan and Conor Donovan
Edited by: Christopher Intaliana and James Heider
Executive Producer: Sami Yenigun

Transcript

[Juana Summers]

For a lot of people living in Gaza, each day is centered on one getting something in their stomachs to keep hunger at bay. Right now, that means stretching dwindling supplies because Israel is enforcing a total blockade on aid coming into Gaza. In Jabalia in northern Gaza, NPR's Anas Baba talked to families waiting to grind small bags of lentils and beans into flour to make bread. There's barely any wheat flour left in Gaza. This is not how Palestinians eat in peacetime. Lentil soup is more common, but it doesn't last long in the stomach. Mustafa Shaleel tells Hamas bread made from lentil flour helps the hunger stay away longer. He says Israel imposed the blockade 10 weeks ago to pressure Hamas to release Israeli hostages. It accuses Hamas of seizing aid, selling it on the black market, and using aid distribution to reinforce its control of Gaza. Here's Israeli Finance Minister Betsal Smotrich speaking at a conference last Read my lips, read my lips. Not a single grain of wheat will enter if it ends up in Hamas hands. In Gaza, 60 year old Nadia Al Masri kneads balls of a grainy dough made from lentil flour, soaked pasta and water. Her family of 12 lives in one classroom in a packed school housing hundreds of families with worn tarps serving as makeshift walls. She tells Anas Baba that this is the worst hunger her family has faced since the start of the war. Hunger, she says, is when your children cry themselves to sleep, they're too hungry. Why are you punishing everyone? She asks. What do we have to do with Hamas? It's not right to make the entire population, more than 2 million people, suffer. Consider this the UN's World Food Program has shuttered its kitchens. It has run out of food. What comes next for the people of Gaza? From npr, I'm Juana Summers.

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[Juana Summers]

It's Consider this from npr. The US and Israel have announced a new plan to get aid flowing back into Gaza. According to an Israeli defense official, it would force Gaza's population south into a zone cordoned off by the military to prevent Hamas from accessing the aid. He spoke on condition of anonymity to divulge details. The US Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, said last week that Israeli soldiers would maintain a security perimeter but not be involved in delivering aid. The focus is going to be get the food, get it to the people who are hungry, keep it away from Hamas. It's really that simple. Aid group sharply criticized the plan. Here's UN Children's Fund spokesperson James Elder.

[Unknown]

The use of humanitarian aid as a.

[Juana Summers]

Bait to forced displacement, especially from the north to the south, will create this impossible choice between displacement and death. There is no official timeline yet on when that plan would be rolled out. In the meantime, nearly half a million people in Gaza are now facing starvation, according to a new report from the ipc. That is the international panel of famine experts who advise the United nations that is a fifth of the population. The Israeli agency that coordinates humanitarian aid rejects those findings. In a post on X, it said, quote, the IPC's projections have consistently failed to predict the reality on the ground. Antoine Renard was just in Gaza last week and got a firsthand view of what is happening on the ground. He's the representative and country director of the United Nations World Food Program in the Palestinian territories. He spoke with me from Jerusalem. Antoine, even when aid was able to get into Gaza, food was quite scarce. And now, more than two months into this blockade, how would you describe the situation there?

[Antoine Renard]

It's actually difficult to find proper words to describe what is happening. After the ceasefire in mid January, we were really as humanitarian for the first time practically since the beginning of the war, managing to reach the population at scale since the 2nd of March with a full closure now for more than 70 days. What you find is a population that is eating one, one and a half meal per day, maximum the prices on the market. I'm just coming back from Gaza. I came back on the 11th of May. Wheat flour, a bag of 25kg is actually now US$560.

[Juana Summers]

And we'll just note here for listeners, we're talking about 25 kilograms. That's somewhere around 55 pounds of flour.

[Antoine Renard]

So the challenge that you have is that most of the population are not able to afford such. And the challenge that you have as well is the quality of the wheat flour that is left. It's in very bad condition. People are smashing macaroni to do bread. So like that the kids can actually still see bread on the table, if there is a table.

[Juana Summers]

The WFP has said it ran out of food to support its hot meal kitchens in Gaza a few weeks ago. All of your bakeries closed a month before that. What is it like to have to shut down your organization's support network in Gaza at a time where there's just so much need?

[Antoine Renard]

The challenge that you have is that you actually wonder when the countdown will finish. Because we used to serve 1 million meals per day until the end of April with all the different actors on the ground, not just the World Food Program. Then it started to be half a million a week ago, and now we are 250,000 meals per day. When are we going to stop this countdown? And we have all the food in the different corridors in Egypt, in Asdot, in Jordan. For your radio listener, food is not even 40km from where people are.

[Juana Summers]

If I heard you correctly, you said you've drawn down from serving 1 million meals a day between the World Food Program and partners to now just 250,000 a day. Is that correct?

[Antoine Renard]

It's correct. And even you know the type of meal that they have on the table, if it's called a lentil soup. One of the family I was meeting last Sunday was telling me that they are actually with their kids counting the lentils so like that they actually removed, remember that it is a lentil soup. They were counting 16 lentils into the soup. And that's your main meal for the day.

[Juana Summers]

Wow. Israel has said that it is blocking aid from entering Gaza in order to force Hamas to come to the negotiating table. I'd like to ask you, do you consider this blockade a violation of international humanitarian law?

[Antoine Renard]

The current period, we're feeling like we were in December 2024, early January, we were really contemplating that it was the end of the road for us as humanitarian and we managed to have the ceasefire. So we need to have the mediators for what is the current situation.

[Juana Summers]

If this blockade were to be completely lifted right now, would that be enough to undo the damage that has already been done there in Gaza in terms of malnutrition?

[Antoine Renard]

The impact is and will actually last for a long time. You've got a number of children that are actually growing. They are minus five. They need to have a proper and adequate dietary diversion city. They don't have meat, they don't have dairy products, they don't have fish. There's no fruit anymore into Gaza. There's barely still some vegetables where you have cucumber, tomatoes, aubergine that are locally produced. But at such a low level and at such a cost, it will clearly have a long term impact related to those that have been now 19 months into this conflict.

[Juana Summers]

As you were saying, you've just returned from Gaza several days ago, so you've been able to see firsthand what many of our listeners have not. What do you think it's important for them to know and to understand about the situation there, the hunger that is being experienced.

[Antoine Renard]

I mean, I've been going to Gaza in really different periods. I've been, you know, just before the ceasefire. And I remember how the weight that was on the shoulder of the civilian population was lifted with the fact that the ceasefire was coming. I look now at the families that I've met, the despair that was there. And I think that the most important for us is to remind that the population there have a human face. They actually are part of humanity and they deserve actually also to ensure that they have a future. And that's why, you know, even if it looks very dire and bleak now, this is why we need to continue to advocate to give them also a sense of humanity.

[Juana Summers]

We have been speaking with Antoine Renard of the World Food Program. Thank you so much.

[Antoine Renard]

Thanks to you.

[Juana Summers]

You heard reporting in this episode from NPR's Daniel Estrin and E.A. batrawy. This episode was produced by Erica Ryan and Conor Donovan. It was edited by Christopher Intaliana and James Heider. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun. It's Consider this from npr. I'm Juana Summers.

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