‘Stop the war. Let the aid in’: Canadian describes family’s life in war-torn Gaza

UPDATE: The UN has clarified that the 14,000 children at risk of starvation or malnutrition was a projection over the next year, and not the next 48 hours.

Clarification: One day after this story was published, the United Nations clarified its original claim that 14,000 children could die in Gaza within 48 hours unless humanitarian aid is allowed into Gaza immediately. The UN clarified that the 14,000 children at risk of starvation or malnutrition was a projection over the next year, and not the next 48 hours.

Palestinian-Canadian Ahmed Jaber, whose family lives in Gaza, says they’ve told him they are without clean water, and rice and bread are scarce – details of a painstaking reality for the group who has already lost so much to the war.

His 30-year-old brother followed the Israeli government’s orders last year to leave their home and move to the Rafah crossing. Then Jabar says his brother was killed in the home in Rafah he was staying in – as instructed – when an Israeli military shell hit the residence.

Jaber’s remaining family are now living in the blown out remains of their family home in Gaza.

“They go to sleep each night, hoping that they will wake up the next morning with everybody in one piece and not dying.”

Jabar says his family have no ties to Hamas. No one in his family has ever even picked up a gun.

He shared one plea for all involved in this deadly conflict: “Stop the war. Let the aid in. Let Gaza live. That’s my cry, that’s my shout.”

Mothers ‘cannot feed their children’

The United Nations is warning of an “imminent humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza. Thousands of mothers are malnourished due to a dire food and aid shortage, and the UN says many with newborns can’t produce the milk needed to feed their babies.

UN Humanitarian Affairs Secretary-General Tom Fletcher said Tuesday that “there are 14,000 babies who will die in the next 48 hours unless we can reach them” with aid. Going on to add that the UN “runs all sorts of risks trying to get that baby food through to those mothers who cannot feed their children because they’re malnourished.”

“People are desperate for this food to feed their families, to feed their kids, to feed their toddlers,” Jaber told CTV News. “What’s the point of not allowing food? What’s the point of not allowing water.”

Answering his own question, Jabar says the Israeli government’s “purpose is killing. It’s genocide.”

It’s a claim Israel’s Prime Minister has denied. Benjamin Netanyahu used the same word taking to social media to condemn the position of the British, French and Canadian governments. In a statement, he wrote in part that “the leaders in London, Ottawa and Paris are offering a huge prize for the genocidal attack on Israel on October 7 while inviting more such atrocities.”

Canada’s position

In a Tuesday joint statement, Canada, the U.K. and France said that if Israel doesn’t cease its renewed military offensive and lift all restrictions on humanitarian aid, sanctions will be delivered.

Approximately 100 trucks with flour, medicine and baby formula are said to have been approved by the Israeli government to cross into Gaza – though Doctors Without Borders Emergency Coordinator Pascale Coissard said “the Israeli authorities’ decision to allow a ridiculously inadequate amount of aid into Gaza after months of an air-tight siege signals their intention to avoid the accusation of starving people in Gaza, while in fact keeping them barely surviving.”

Speaking to parliament Tuesday in London, the U.K.’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy confirmed that the U.K. has suspended its free trade talks with Isael.

“There are over 9,000 trucks at the border. Prime Minister Netanyahu, end this blockade now and let the aid in.”

On the streets of Jerusalem, some support Netanyahu’s position. Sitting on a café patio, 30-year-old Tzvia Sagiv told Reuters she believes Canada, the U.K. and France are “a bunch of hypocrites. They care more about virtue signalling to their voters than helping the situation in the middle east.”