'Like the world has forgotten us:' As Iran-Israel conflict escalates, Gazans fear their suffering will become invisible
By
Ivana Kottasová, Kareem Khadder
and
Khader Al-Za'anoun
, CNN
Women cry as they mourn the death of a loved one killed during overnight Israeli bombardment on 12 June 2025, at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas militant group.
Photo:
Omar Al-Qattaa / AFP
The young girl sits on the dusty floor, clutching her father's shoe close to her chest as she cries and screams in anger. Bisan Qwaider is inconsolable. Her father has just been killed while trying to get food for her and her 10 hungry siblings.
Khaled Sha'ath, the photojournalist who captured the scene of Qwaider's grief on Sunday, told CNN that Bisan's father, Shadi, had left the family's tent in Mawassi, in southern Gaza, a few days earlier for Ma'an, just east of Khan Younis.
Shadi knew travel to the area was dangerous: Ma'an had been under an Israeli evacuation order for some time and has come under Israeli bombardment. But, despite the risk, his children were hungry and he believed he could get some food there for them.
Gaza is facing a hunger crisis. A
UN-backed report
published in late April warned that one in five people in Gaza were facing starvation and that the entire enclave was edging closer to famine. The situation has only worsened since then, according to the UN.
Sha'ath said Qwaider was killed in an airstrike and his body was pulled from the rubble on Sunday. He is one of hundreds of people who have died while attempting to find food in Gaza in recent weeks, according to Gaza health authorities.
Palestinians gather in wait for the arrival of trucks carrying humanitarian aid near Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip late on 15 June 2025.
Photo:
Bashar Taleb / AFP
CNN has asked the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) about the situation in Ma'an. The IDF responded by sending CNN a map of Gaza with "dangerous combat zones" highlighted in red, which included Ma'an - as well as more than half of the territory.
In late May, Israel
partially lifted
an 11-week total blockade on Gaza, but humanitarian organisations say the aid entering now is only a tiny fraction of what is needed.
"Without immediate and massively scaled-up access to the basic means of survival, we risk a descent into famine, further chaos, and the loss of more lives," the UN's humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said last week.
The humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza has sparked outrage around the world, recently prompting even some of Israel's closest allies to speak up.
France, the UK and Canada issued a rare statement last month criticising Israel and threatening "concrete steps" if the situation in Gaza does not improve.
A Palestinian child looks on as smoke billows in the distance during Israeli bombardment in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on 11 June 2025.
Photo:
AFP
The UK paused trade negotiations with Israel and sanctioned West Bank settlers last month, and the European Union said it would review a key cooperation agreement with Israel.
But as tensions continue to escalate between Israel and Iran, people in Gaza are now worried that even the limited pressure on Israel over their suffering will quickly evaporate.
"The war between Israel and Iran made people forget about us completely. No one is looking at us, there's no food or water or anything. Every day, people go to try to get food and aid, and they end up being carried in body bags," Mohammad, a Gazan who did not want to share his last name, told CNN on Monday.
Umm Mustafa, another Gazan, told CNN the growing conflict between Iran and Israel means that their suffering has disappeared from the international news agenda.
"All the (focus) has shifted to the Israeli-Iranian war, even though the Gaza Strip has been wiped off of the map," Mustafa said.
Palestinian children wait with others for food at a distribution point in Gaza City.
Photo:
AFP / Majdi Fathi
Abu Juma'a, who lives in Gaza City, told CNN that while there were "some voices calling and standing in solidarity with Gaza and calling for humanitarian aid to be let in, the Israeli-Iranian war meant there is no one calling for the food and water to be provided in Gaza."
More than 55,300 people have been killed and more than 128,700 injured in Gaza since 7 October 2023, according to health authorities there.
The numbers are staggering: The death toll represents some 2.5 percent of the entire Gaza population, meaning that out of every 40 Palestinians living in Gaza before the war, one is now dead.
A young Palestinian girl looks into the camera as displaced Palestinians live in temporary tents set up near demolished buildings as displacement crisis worsens in Gaza, Palestinian territories on 29 May, 2025.
Photo:
Abood Abusalama / Middle East Images / Middle East Images via AFP
A peer-reviewed study published earlier this year in
The Lancet journal
, said that the number of people killed in Gaza is significantly higher than the figure reported by authorities in the enclave.
CNN cannot independently verify those claims and Israel has barred international journalists from travelling to Gaza independently since 7 October.
And the deadly hunger crisis is worsening. The International Committee of the Red Cross said on Monday that people are struggling to access basic goods because of Israeli restrictions on what can be brought into the territory.
Meanwhile, a US and Israeli-backed aid initiative, the
Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF)
- a controversial organisation that was established amid Israeli accusations that Hamas is stealing aid in Gaza and profiting off its sale - is struggling to fulfil the task.
The organisation has been criticised by multiple international aid agencies that it isn't fit for purpose.
A boy carries a box of relief supplies from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), on 29 May 2025.
Photo:
Eyad Baba / AFP
According to Gaza health authorities, at least
300 people have been killed
since the GHF opened its distribution points in late May, which are located in areas surrounded by active combat zones.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said last week that Israeli authorities have allowed only a select number of UN agencies and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to resume the delivery of aid into Gaza after partially lifting the blockade and that "only very limited amounts of certain food items, nutrition supplies, some health supplies, and water purification items" are allowed.
Other aid supplies, such as shelter materials, hygiene products and medical equipment are still being blocked by Israel, according to OCHA.
"People can't find anything to eat or drink. The price of a bag of flour is now 300 to 500 times more expensive than before … it does feel like the world has forgotten us," another Gaza resident, Abu Mohammed, told CNN.
For young Bisan Qwaider, the only thing from her father she could get a hold of was his shoe.
As she screamed for her father, she looked to the sky and shouted a message for those she believed were responsible for his death.
"May God hold you accountable," she said.
-CNN
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By Ivana Kottasová, Kareem Khadder and Khader Al-Za'anoun , CNN Women cry as they mourn the death of a loved one killed during overnight Israeli bombardment on 12 June 2025, at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas militant group. Photo: Omar Al-Qattaa / AFP The young girl sits on the dusty floor, clutching her father's shoe close to her chest as she cries and screams in anger. Bisan Qwaider is inconsolable. Her father has just been killed while trying to get food for her and her 10 hungry siblings. Khaled Sha'ath, the photojournalist who captured the scene of Qwaider's grief on Sunday, told CNN that Bisan's father, Shadi, had left the family's tent in Mawassi, in southern Gaza, a few days earlier for Ma'an, just east of Khan Younis. Shadi knew travel to the area was dangerous: Ma'an had been under an Israeli evacuation order for some time and has come under Israeli bombardment. But, despite the risk, his children were hungry and he believed he could get some food there for them. Gaza is facing a hunger crisis. A UN-backed report published in late April warned that one in five people in Gaza were facing starvation and that the entire enclave was edging closer to famine. The situation has only worsened since then, according to the UN. Sha'ath said Qwaider was killed in an airstrike and his body was pulled from the rubble on Sunday. He is one of hundreds of people who have died while attempting to find food in Gaza in recent weeks, according to Gaza health authorities. Palestinians gather in wait for the arrival of trucks carrying humanitarian aid near Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip late on 15 June 2025. Photo: Bashar Taleb / AFP CNN has asked the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) about the situation in Ma'an. The IDF responded by sending CNN a map of Gaza with "dangerous combat zones" highlighted in red, which included Ma'an - as well as more than half of the territory. In late May, Israel partially lifted an 11-week total blockade on Gaza, but humanitarian organisations say the aid entering now is only a tiny fraction of what is needed. "Without immediate and massively scaled-up access to the basic means of survival, we risk a descent into famine, further chaos, and the loss of more lives," the UN's humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said last week. The humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza has sparked outrage around the world, recently prompting even some of Israel's closest allies to speak up. France, the UK and Canada issued a rare statement last month criticising Israel and threatening "concrete steps" if the situation in Gaza does not improve. A Palestinian child looks on as smoke billows in the distance during Israeli bombardment in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on 11 June 2025. Photo: AFP The UK paused trade negotiations with Israel and sanctioned West Bank settlers last month, and the European Union said it would review a key cooperation agreement with Israel. But as tensions continue to escalate between Israel and Iran, people in Gaza are now worried that even the limited pressure on Israel over their suffering will quickly evaporate. "The war between Israel and Iran made people forget about us completely. No one is looking at us, there's no food or water or anything. Every day, people go to try to get food and aid, and they end up being carried in body bags," Mohammad, a Gazan who did not want to share his last name, told CNN on Monday. Umm Mustafa, another Gazan, told CNN the growing conflict between Iran and Israel means that their suffering has disappeared from the international news agenda. "All the (focus) has shifted to the Israeli-Iranian war, even though the Gaza Strip has been wiped off of the map," Mustafa said. Palestinian children wait with others for food at a distribution point in Gaza City. Photo: AFP / Majdi Fathi Abu Juma'a, who lives in Gaza City, told CNN that while there were "some voices calling and standing in solidarity with Gaza and calling for humanitarian aid to be let in, the Israeli-Iranian war meant there is no one calling for the food and water to be provided in Gaza." More than 55,300 people have been killed and more than 128,700 injured in Gaza since 7 October 2023, according to health authorities there. The numbers are staggering: The death toll represents some 2.5 percent of the entire Gaza population, meaning that out of every 40 Palestinians living in Gaza before the war, one is now dead. A young Palestinian girl looks into the camera as displaced Palestinians live in temporary tents set up near demolished buildings as displacement crisis worsens in Gaza, Palestinian territories on 29 May, 2025. 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