Palestinian children line up in Gaza Strip hoping to be distributed a warm meal

Displaced Palestinians queued up with empty pots to receive cooked food from a charity-run kitchen in the central Gaza Strip city of Deir al-Balah on Thursday.

Charities like these are a lifeline as displaced Palestinians struggle to find food due to limitations on the amount of aid entering the Gaza Strip.

Most of the population of the enclave have been displaced by the Israel-Hamas war, which is still raging after nearly 14 months.

Antoine Renard, the World Food Program country director for the Palestinian territories, said the “levels of hunger, devastation and destruction” are now “worse than ever before.”

Earlier this month some bakeries in the Gaza Strip reopened after being shut for several days due to a flour shortage and lack of food aid.

The shortage in flour and the closure of a crucial bakery in Deir al-Balah had exacerbated an already dire food situation in which Palestinians are struggling to obtain the minimum amount of food needed for their families to survive.

Hunger experts warned earlier this month that there is a strong likelihood that famine is imminent in parts of northern Gaza.

The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister, accusing them of using “starvation as a method of warfare” — charges Israel adamantly denies.

The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 hostage. Around 100 captives are still inside Gaza, about two-thirds of whom are believed to be alive.

Israel’s offensive has killed over 44,000 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to local health officials, who do not differentiate between fighters and civilians in their toll.

Additional sources • AP