‘I Can’t Eat While Children are Dying’ – Gaza Journalists Embark on Hunger Strike 

July 24, 2025 News
A group of journalists in Gaza launched a hunger strike amid famine crisis. (Photo: video grab)

At least 115 Palestinians have died due to the famine and malnutrition, according to Gaza’s Government Media Office on Wednesday.

The worsening famine in the Gaza Strip has pushed some journalists to embark on a deliberate hunger strike in a desperate attempt to draw attention to the ongoing suffering of starving civilians in the besieged enclave, the Anadolu news agency reported.

“I can’t eat while children are dying of hunger in front of me,” Wadie Abu Saud told Anadolu.

Abu Saud, who lives in northern Gaza, began his strike four days ago after he saw an elderly woman collapsing and dying of starvation before his eyes.

“I saw a woman fall to the ground and die. She was the same age as my mother,” he said.

With his body already weakened by months of war and food shortages, Abu Saud, now survives solely on saltwater.

Abu Saud, a father of four and correspondent for Yemen TV, is one of the few journalists who remained in northern Gaza when Israeli forces ordered mass evacuations in October 2023.

Over 100 Dead of Starvation

Gaza’s Government Media Office reported on Wednesday that at least 115 Palestinians have died due to the famine and malnutrition, amid a near-total absence of food, water, and medicine in the Strip.

Since Israel imposed a full closure on Gaza’s border crossings in March, famine-like conditions have worsened dramatically across the enclave.

“I have seen massacres. I have seen displacement, destruction, starvation,” Abu Saud said. “Now, I’m trying to wake the world up through my own hunger.”

Since his home was destroyed in an Israeli airstrike, the journalist has been repeatedly displaced, moving from one shelter to another, trying to keep his family safe.

“Even if I survive, what kind of life is this?” he asked.

Mother’s Plea

Abu Saud’s voice breaks as he recalls a phone call with his 68-year-old mother.

“She asked me if I could bring her just half a kilo of lentils, or one piece of bread,” he said. “She has diabetes and heart disease. If she doesn’t eat, she could die.”

Abu Saud could not find either nor could he look her in the eye.

“This is the pain that crushes men,” he said. “To see your mother starving and be unable to help her.”

For four days, Abu Saud has consumed nothing but salt mixed with water — a method used by hunger strikers to maintain fluid balance.

“I may not have food,” he said, “but I still have my voice. And I will use it.”

‘Empty Stomachs and Dignity’

Calling his action a campaign of “empty stomachs and dignity,” his protest is not just personal. His protest is not just personal. It is political, moral, and deeply human.

“I want the world to see what’s happening here — not through my camera, but through my own body,” he stated.

The journalist said he feels like he and his colleagues have been screaming into a void for the past 22 months — documenting war crimes, pleading for help, demanding justice, the reprot stated.

“But it feels like we’re shouting at statues,” Abu Saud said. “The world has eyes, but it refuses to see. It has ears, but refuses to listen.”

He added, “I may die. But if I do, I will die with a clear conscience. I will not betray the children of Gaza.”

Abu Saud said he will continue his hunger strike until “the smallest child in Gaza has something to eat.”

“We don’t ask for much. We just want the right to feed our children. We just want the world to care,” the journalist stressed.

Call from NGOs

On Wednesday, more than 100 international aid organizations and human rights groups sounded the alarm on the catastrophic famine in Gaza where aid workers are now joining starving civilians in the same food lines, risking being shot by Israeli forces just to feed their families.

“Open all land crossings; restore the full flow of food, clean water, medical supplies, shelter items, and fuel through a principled, UN-led mechanism; end the siege, and agree to a ceasefire now,” the organizations demanded.

‘End the Siege’ – Over 100 Organizations Raise Alarm Over Mass Starvation in Gaza

“The starvation of civilians as a method of warfare is a war crime,” the organizations stated.

As of July 13, the UN confirmed 875 Palestinians were killed while seeking food, 201 on aid routes and the rest at distribution points, the organizations noted, adding that thousands more have been injured.  On Wednesday, Gaza’s Ministry of Health said the death toll was 1,060 with more than 7,207 injuries.

At the same time, the total death toll announced by the Health Ministry was 59,219 killed and 143,045 injured since Israel’s genocidal assault on the enclave began in October 2023.

(Anadolu, PC)

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