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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Jason Burke in Jerusalem and Malak A Tantesh in Gaza

Gaza blockade: a Palestinian widow, her children and a cupboard that is almost bare

A woman wearing a scarf surrounded by four children
Ibtisam Ghalia, 32, a former nurse, with her four children, now live in a tented encampment in Beit Lahiya, Gaza. Photograph: Enas Tantesh/The Guardian

Every day, Ibtisam Ghalia and her four children count their remaining stocks of food. These are meagre: a kilo or so of beans, a bag of lentils, a little salt, some herbs, spices, and enough flour for half a dozen flatbreads cooked on a griddle over a fire of wood splinters, waste plastic and cardboard.

In the two months since Israel imposed a total blockade on Gaza, stopping food, medicine, fuel and anything else from entering the devastated territory, Ghalia’s “cupboard” has slowly diminished.

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