Palestinians in Gaza resort to eating turtle meat amid Israeli starvation policy

For the third time, Majda Qanan was forced to cook a turtle to feed her displaced family, now living in a tent in Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip, where the spectre of hunger threatens residents due to the stifling Israeli blockade and the denial of aid entry.

Majda, 61, cleans the meat and mixes it with flour and vinegar. She then washes it and boils it in an old, damaged pot before browning it. She then seasons it with onions, tomatoes, and peppers.

As she sat watching the red meat being cooked over wood, she recounted how, “The children were afraid of the turtle, so we told them it tasted as good as veal.”

“Some ate it, while others refused it,” she added.

This week, a group of international non-governmental organizations warned that “famine is not just a threat, but appears to be rapidly developing in almost all areas of Gaza.”