Palestinians see growing food shortages

Though the international sanctions were aimed at the Hamas-led government, because the Palestinian economy is so dependent on public spending, per capita growth declined as much as 10 percent in 2006, according to a preliminary estimate by the World Bank. The reversal of three consecutive years of growth was also affected by a rise in security closures around Gaza and West Bank cities.

Israel argues that despite the security measures to protect its citizens against terrorist attacks, it is doing everything it can to ease the suffering of the Palestinian population.

"We are committed to working with the international community to ensure there are no food shortages in the territories," says Mark Regev, a spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry. "No one wants to see innocent Palestinians pay the price of an extremist and shortsighted Palestinian government."

But Daphna Golan, a researcher at Hebrew University's Minerva Center for Human Rights, argued that Israel needs to loosen restrictions of Palestinian movement to allow the Palestinian economy to grow. "If we want a normal future here," she says, "we don't want neighbors who are hungry."

In Ramallah, signs of the desperation can be seen at traffic intersections and in automobile queues at Israeli checkpoints, where there has been an increase in the number of children hawking merchandise like gum and plastic toys to earn pocket change.

"People want their kids to start bringing in income," says Jamil Rabah, an independent pollster who studies food insecurity for the WFP. "It's close to begging."

The food distress is reflected by cutbacks in the quantity and quality of food purchased. It has also prompted Palestinians to cut corners on items normally considered essential, like education and medical services.

"They keep their bellies full at the expense of not going to the doctor," Mr. Rabah says. "Food remains the last resort because food is living."

The WFP defines the Palestinian poverty line at a total expenditure of $2 per person per day. Those who suffer from food insecurity only have $1.60 per day to spend.

In the Kalandia Refugee Camp, Rubin Hussein flipped through ledgers that list the debts of his customers. They owe him nearly $20,000. Consumption has plummeted, and those who still buy are forced to purchase frozen meat.

"People don't eat high-quality meat," he says. "They go for the cheaper meat."

With a 500-shekel debt of her own at the butcher, Shiham says she hasn't been to the shop in two months. All of the meat in the refrigerator was donated by relatives during a recent holiday.

When her children ask her why classmates eat chicken schnitzel and bologna for lunch while they make do with bread and hyssop, there is not much to say: "I tell them, 'I can't give you.' "

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