Gaza City: In a place once known for poetry, colour, and culture, war and famine have left a grim new canvas — where artists burn their life’s work for warmth and journalists sell their cameras just to eat.
This is Gaza in 2025, a land choking under siege, where even the symbols of truth and beauty — a press shield or a painting — are no longer sacred, but traded for survival.
Two stories have captured the internet’s attention, not for their artistic merit, but for their quiet desperation. Together, they paint a haunting picture of a people on the edge.
“The Hungry Journalist Conveys the Voice of Hungry Children”
Gaza-based photojournalist Mohammed Abu Aoun, known for his work featured by The New York Times, Sky News, and ABC, shared a social media post that stopped hearts: he was selling his camera and press shield to buy food for his children.
“We are dying of hunger,” his post read. “I offer my equipment and my press shield for sale so I can feed my family.”
Aoun has covered some of Gaza’s most dangerous flare-ups, risking his life to document suffering and resilience. Today, he is living that very suffering. He says there’s no fuel, no electricity, no flour — only the gnawing pain of hunger, and the silence of a world that once relied on his images to understand Gaza.
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“Beauty Burns. And Children Eat What Remains.”
Another voice broke through the digital noise just days later. Taha Hussein Abu Ghali, a 43-year-old visual artist, art therapist, and father of five, was filmed burning his own paintings — works he carried with him for decades — to make fire and bake bread.
“These were my most beautiful paintings,” he says, his voice trembling.
“But if I lose a child, I can’t bring them back. Art can be recreated. A child cannot.”
The footage, shared on Instagram, shows him snapping wooden frames, stacking the splinters, and feeding them into the fire his wife would later use to cook lentils.
“One kilo of wood costs 8 shekels,” he explains according to TRT Global. “We need at least three kilos a day just to make bread. After burning the doors, cabinets, even the kids’ desks — my paintings were all we had left.”
Displaced for the 11th time, now sheltering in a tent in Asda City, Hussein says he’s watched his children’s faces change under hunger and sun. His studio is gone. His canvases, once sanctuaries of memory, now serve as fuel.
“I wish I didn’t just burn my paintings,” he says. “I wish I could burn myself and leave this dirty, eternal world.”
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A Famine That Speaks Through Art and Journalism
What these stories reflect is not just the desperation of two men, but the silent scream of an entire population. Gaza’s humanitarian crisis is spiralling: nearly 1 in 3 residents now go days without eating. According to Gaza health authorities, over 113 people — mostly children — have died from starvation. The UN, WHO, and over 100 aid organisations have declared the situation man-made, not accidental.
Despite international outcry, Israel maintains it is not to blame, instead pointing to Hamas. But the reality on the ground tells another story: no food, no clean water, no electricity, no aid in meaningful quantities.
“We are one step away from mass death,” says Abu Aoun.
“This famine feels like part of a calculated plan to make us leave,” adds Hussein.
When Press and Paint Become Fuel, What Hope Remains?
The tragedy in Gaza now extends beyond statistics. It is carried in the smudged hands of a journalist who once held a camera, and in the ash-covered fingers of a father who once painted dreams. These are the stories the world must not turn away from — because when art and journalism are burned to survive, what’s left is not just hunger, but the erasure of history, identity, and humanity itself.
“Art has turned into bread,” Hussein says. “The hungry journalist carries the voice of the hungry children,” Abu Aoun reminds.
The humanitarian situation in Gaza has reached catastrophic levels, with famine spreading rapidly and civilians bearing the brunt of the prolonged conflict. The peace talks between Israel and Hamas have collapsed, with both sides blaming each other for the failure. US President Donald Trump recently declared that both Israel and the US were withdrawing from negotiations, accusing Hamas of not being serious about a ceasefire or hostage deal.
Hamas officials criticised the move, calling it unexpected and unjustified. Meanwhile, Israel has announced it will allow humanitarian aid to be airdropped by foreign countries, including Jordan and the UAE, though experts say such symbolic measures are grossly inadequate for Gaza’s 2 million residents. The international community is increasingly criticising Israel’s blockade and military actions, with Britain, France, and Germany calling for an immediate end to the humanitarian catastrophe. According to the UN, one in three people in Gaza is now going days without food, and several children have died of malnutrition, underscoring the urgency of the crisis.
