‘Life is truly catastrophic’: as the humanitarian crisis worsens, Gaza’s artists and cultural figures are losing hope

As Israel’s blockade of Gaza enters its third month, the United Nations and its partners have warned of a deepening humanitarian catastrophe. The statement, issued on 4 May, came as Israel’s security cabinet approved the expansion of its military offensive, along with reported plans to tighten control over relief efforts after US President Donald Trump completes his visit to Gulf Arab countries next week.

In the statement, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) rejected Israel’s proposed aid distribution plan, which the UN said would funnel humanitarian aid through military controlled hubs, rather than allowing UN agencies and NGOs to operate independently, contravening “fundamental humanitarian principles”. OCHA urged world leaders to “use their influence” to lift the restrictions and allow critical supplies and services into Gaza.

“It is dangerous, driving civilians into militarised zones to collect rations, threatening lives, including those of humanitarian workers,” the statement warned, adding that it would also worsen forced displacement across the strip.

Living through humiliation

Among the roughly two million people impacted by the blockade, which has been in place since 2 March, are Gaza’s artists and cultural figures.

“Everyone in Gaza had hope for life, but unfortunately now we wish for death,” Hamoudeh Al-Duhdar, a Palestinian heritage expert in Gaza, tells The Art Newspaper. “We are living through all forms of humiliation, disgrace, fear, and hunger,” adds Al-Duhdar, whose 11-year-old daughter, Mervat, was killed in December 2023 in an Israeli air strike.

On Wednesday 7 May, which would have been Mervat’s birthday, five of Al-Duhdar’s “young cousins”, including a 15-year-old child, were “massacred” in an Israeli airstrike, with many others injured. Al-Duhdar says they spent the day “bidding farewell to one young person after another” and burying them “under very difficult circumstances”.

Before Israel broke the two-month ceasefire on 18 March and resumed its military offensive, Al-Duhdar had been leading emergency rescue and preservation work on some of Gaza’s worst affected heritage sites, including the iconic 13th-century Mamluk-era site and archaeological museum, Qasr Al-Basha (Al Pasha Palace). The resumption of war halted those projects—and with them, his income.

With prices of goods soaring exponentially, Al-Duhdar says he and his family are surviving on food he previously stockpiled, such as canned goods, rice and “bad wheat”, which he describes as “not fit for consumption”—though they have no choice but to eat it.

Breaches of the UN charter?

The UN’s rejection of the Israeli proposal followed recent hearings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). During these hearings, 45 countries and international organisations argued that Israel’s ban on humanitarian aid to Palestinians, as well as its ban on cooperation with the UN’s Palestinian rights agency, Unrwa, is a breach of the UN charter, of which the country is a signatory. The court’s advisory opinion is expected to take months and, while not binding, it will provide clarity on legal questions.

“What’s happening in Gaza is not just a humanitarian crisis—it is an organised destruction of memory, identity, and social fabric,” says Sheerin Abdel Karim Hassanein, a 28-year-old multidisciplinary artist whose work spans painting, sculpture, installation art, video art, and 3D architectural modelling.

Hassanien describes the food situation in Gaza as “tragic”, noting that her family have been surviving mostly on humanitarian aid, which she says has been insufficient. “Meals have become extremely basic—usually just bread and some canned food, or rice and sugar if available. Clean water is nearly nonexistent, and sometimes we are forced to drink unsafe water,” she explains. “Getting food requires standing in long queues for hours, and sometimes we leave empty-handed,” she adds.

Displaced once again following the resumption of war, Hassanein says life under these conditions has been particularly harsh for women. She describes the immense psychological pressure of caring for children and family in unsafe, unsanitary environments, while the lack of aid has made access to basic hygiene and personal supplies almost impossible.

“Many women have lost their homes, their privacy, and even their physical and psychological safety,” she explains. “I’ve seen mothers break down in displacement centres because they are unable to protect their children or even provide nappies or milk.”

Despite the hardships Hassanein continues to create art, documenting the moment as a form of resistance, and carving out personal space amid the chaos. “My message to anyone listening, do not let our story be reduced to numbers,” she pleads. “We are human beings who dream, love, and create—despite everything.”

Starvation of the soul

On 25 April, the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) announced that it had depleted all of its hot food stocks in Gaza, highlighting that food prices had skyrocketed up to 1,400% compared to during the ceasefire. The organisation had already closed all of its 25 bakeries by 31 March due to shortage of wheat, flour and cooking fuel.

Mustafa Mohanna, a 33-year-old visual artist from Gaza City, has been working with children during the war to help them express their emotions and ease their fears through projects such as painting on the rubble, as an alternative to limited and costly paper. He says everything is scarce and expensive, noting that a 25kg bag of flour now costs as much as $500, up from $15. Paper, meanwhile, is priced at $33, up from $4, if he can even find it.

“Life is truly catastrophic,” he tells The Art Newspaper. “It’s not just food that we are lacking. What we lack is life.”

Mohanna continues: “Yes, we are hungry, but it is not food that I, as an artist, am missing. I miss my art supplies. I miss the atmosphere that existed before the war. I miss my studio, which was full of inspiration and sunlight through the windows. I miss the nourishment of the soul.” He adds that he considers those who died early in the war to be the lucky ones.

Health, education—and a dignified life

According to OCHA, the blockade has also had a detrimental impact on medical care, including the availability of essential medicine—a difficult reality that Suhaila Shaheen came to know when she required surgery. The founder of the now destroyed Al Rafah museum broke her foot during the ceasefire, when she was hit by a stone falling from the ruins of her destroyed home in Rafah. She had been searching through the rubble for fragments of her life.

A new life, begun in the tent she had set up on the wreckage of her home, did not last long. Bombardments resumed, and the Israeli military ordered them to leave the area.

As the 63-year-old tried to flee on her broken foot, she fell and broke her hip. With hospitals overwhelmed by bombing casualties she waited a week for surgery. However, the metal plate she needed was not available in her size. She was instead fitted with one that is too large, causing her great discomfort. After the operation, she was also left without painkillers or antibiotics, which she says are scarce in Gaza.

“I cannot sleep either at night or during the day, the pain is continuous,” she says. “There are no supplements, no healthy nutrition, and no vitamins in the pharmacies—nothing is available. Things are getting harder, and the most basic human rights—food, health, education, and a dignified life—are not available in Gaza.”