Israel is starving us in Gaza. This is what that feels like | Aya Al-Hattab

Because of the blockade, hunger is part of our daily reality now. It is deep and cruel, and there is no relief

It has been more than 30 hours since I last ate. At times, I go as long as two days without food. For most people around the world, the word hunger is a fleeting feeling, easily fixed with a trip to the kitchen or a nearby store. Saying I'm hungry" is routine, almost meaningless. But imagine if every time you felt hungry, there was nothing to eat - no food, no relief, just emptiness. This has been my daily reality in the Gaza Strip for over a month.

Since the beginning of the war, the Israeli occupation has controlled the quantity and type of food allowed into Gaza. When a ceasefire was agreed, I hoped that everything I had endured was behind me. I held on to the hope of a better life, convinced that hunger would become something in my past. But just as I began to regain my health, the bombing and destruction returned - and with them, the starvation.

Aya Al-Hattab is a writer in Gaza