Gaza’s markets are full of chips, chocolate, biscuits and soft drinks. Meat, eggs, dairy and fresh vegetables are almost nowhere to be found. That isn’t an accident, Palestinians say. It’s how the Israeli occupation is engineering famine a year into the ceasefire. Every truck that enters Gaza passes through crossings the occupation controls, and it decides what goes on them. Gaza’s Government Media Office says around 350 essential items are still banned, while snacks, sugary drinks and high-calorie dry goods are waved through. The Gaza Chamber of Commerce estimates that 95 percent of the goods allowed in are consumer products. Nutritionists warn that chips, instant noodles and soda can dull hunger for a few hours but cannot replace real food, and they are dangerous for young children, pregnant women and the chronically ill, who need protein and vitamins to survive. One Palestinian economist calls it a policy of keeping Gaza’s head just above water: hungry enough to break, fed enough to avoid mass death on camera. Under the ceasefire, Israel promised 600 trucks a day. The real average is around 200, and this week an Israeli official claimed 250 were enough. Now the World Food Programme has cut food aid for half a million people for lack of funding, just as winter arrives, leaving 1.4 million Palestinians, two-thirds of Gaza, facing crisis levels of hunger with shelves stocked with snacks they cannot live on. #EngineeringFamine