
Israel will let foreign countries drop aid into Gaza, Israel army radio says
An Israeli military spokesperson did not immediately reply to a Reuters request for comment on the report.
The Gaza health ministry says more than 100 people have died from starvation in the Palestinian enclave since Israel cut off supplies to the territory in March.
Israel, which has been at war with the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza since October 2023, lifted that blockade in May but has restrictions in place that it says are needed to prevent aid from being diverted to militant groups.
In the first two weeks of July, the UN children's agency UNICEF treated 5,000 children facing acute malnutrition in Gaza.
World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday that Gaza was suffering man-made mass starvation caused by a blockade on aid into the enclave.
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The Journal
3 hours ago
- The Journal
Famine 'now unfolding' in Gaza 'unlike anything seen in this century', says UN's WFP
FAMINE IS 'NOW unfolding' in Gaza, with thousands of children malnourished and hunger-related deaths on the rise among the youngest, a UN-backed monitor warned on Tuesday. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative (IPC) said that air drops over Gaza will not be enough to avert the 'humanitarian catastrophe.' 'The worst-case scenario of famine is now unfolding in the Gaza Strip,' said the UN-backed group of organisations, used as a monitor to gauge malnutrition. 'Immediate, unimpeded' humanitarian access into Gaza was the only way to stop rapidly rising 'starvation and death', it said. The UN's World Food Programme warned today that the disaster unfolding in Gaza was reminiscent of famines seen in Ethiopia and Biafra, Nigeria in the 20th century. 'This is unlike anything we have seen in this century. It reminds us of previous disasters in Ethiopia or Biafra in the past century,' WFP emergency director Ross Smith told reporters in Geneva, speaking from Rome, insisting that 'we need urgent action now'. The IPC issued their warning 'alert' after days of aid groups sounding the alarm over hunger-related deaths in Gaza. Mothers hold their emaciated children at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, Gaza, Palestine, on 21 July, 2025. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo Israel imposed a total blockade on Gaza on 2 March after ceasefire talks broke down. In late May, it began allowing a small trickle of aid to resume, amid warnings of a wave of starvation. The IPC said its latest data shows that 'famine thresholds' have been reached in 'most of the Gaza Strip'. Hunger-related deaths of young children, it said, were rising. Advertisement 'Over 20,000 children have been admitted for treatment for acute malnutrition between April and mid-July, with more than 3,000 severely malnourished.' Children under the age of five were dying of hunger, 'with at least 16 reported deaths since 17 July', IPC said. 'Mounting evidence shows that widespread starvation, malnutrition, and disease are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths,' it said today. Plea for access The group warned that 'unimpeded lifesaving humanitarian access' was the only way to stop the growing number of deaths. 'Failure to act now will result in widespread death in much of the Strip,' it said. Over the weekend Israel declared a 'tactical pause' in army operations in parts of Gaza, saying more than 120 truckloads of food were allowed in, with some countries – such as Jordan and the UAE – dropping food into the besieged territory. But besides posing a risk to civilians, air drops will be insufficient to 'reverse the humanitarian catastrophe', warned the IPC. Delivering food by road is 'more effective, safer and faster', it wrote, also warning that the most vulnerable suffering from acute malnutrition – including children – 'need access to consistent life-saving treatment' in order to recover. 'Without immediate action, starvation and death will continue to spread rapidly and relentlessly,' it warned. The IPC alert did not amount to a new famine classification, it said, but was intended to draw attention to the crisis based on 'the latest available evidence' through 25 July. A more thorough so-called 'advisory', in which the group issues its classifications, is underway and will be published as soon as possible, it said. In May, the IPC said there was a 'risk of famine' in Gaza. The UN-backed group of organisations and institutions issues an internationally-agreed definition for famine that is used to gauge the level of acute malnutrition in countries.


Irish Examiner
4 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Number of Palestinians killed in Israel-Hamas war passes 60,000, ministry says
More than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed in the 21-month war between Israel and Hamas, Gaza's Health Ministry said. The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, said the death toll has climbed to 60,034, with another 145,870 people wounded since the Hamas attack on October 7 2023. It did not say how many were civilians or militants, but has said women and children make up around half of the dead. The ministry is staffed by medical professionals. The United Nations and other independent experts view its figures as the most reliable count of casualties. An Israeli armoured personnel carrier returns from inside the northern Gaza Strip (Ariel Schalit/AP) Israel's offensive has destroyed vast areas of Gaza, displaced around 90% of the population and caused a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, with experts warning of famine. Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the attack that sparked the war, and abducted another 251. They are still holding 50 captives, around 20 believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefires or other deals. The war took a major turn in early March when Israel imposed a blockade, barring the entry of all food, medicine, fuel and other goods. Weeks later, Israel ended a ceasefire with a surprise bombardment and began seizing large areas of Gaza, measures it said were aimed at pressuring Hamas to release more hostages. At least 8,867 Palestinians have been killed since then.


Irish Times
5 hours ago
- Irish Times
Famine is ‘playing out' in Gaza, warns global hunger monitor
Famine is 'playing out' in the Gaza Strip , a global hunger monitor said in an alert issued on Tuesday as international criticism of Israel intensifies over rapidly worsening conditions in the Palestinian enclave. 'The worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in the Gaza Strip,' said the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) alert. 'Mounting evidence shows that widespread starvation, malnutrition, and disease are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths.' The IPC alert does not formally classify Gaza as being in famine. Such a classification can only be made through an analysis, which the IPC said it would now conduct 'without delay'. The IPC is a global initiative that partners with 21 aid groups, international organisations and UN agencies , and assesses the extent of hunger suffered by a population. READ MORE War has raged in Gaza between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas for the past 22 months. Facing global condemnation over the humanitarian crisis, Israel said on Sunday it would halt military operations for 10 hours a day in parts of the Palestinian enclave and allow new aid corridors. For an area to be classified as in famine, at least 20 per cent of people must be suffering extreme food shortages, with one in three children acutely malnourished and two people out of every 10,000 dying daily from starvation or malnutrition and disease. 'Immediate action must be taken to end the hostilities and allow unimpeded, large-scale, life-saving humanitarian response. This is the only path to stopping further deaths and catastrophic human suffering,' the IPC alert said. The latest data indicated that famine thresholds have been reached for food consumption in most of the war-torn Palestinian enclave – where some 2.1 million people remain – and for acute malnutrition in Gaza City, the alert said. 'Formal famine declarations always lag reality,' David Miliband, head of the International Rescue Committee aid group, said in a statement ahead of the IPC alert. 'By the time that famine was declared in Somalia in 2011, 250,000 people – half of them children under five – had already died of hunger. By the time famine is declared, it will already be too late,' he said. Israel controls all access to Gaza. After an 11-week blockade, limited UN-led aid operations resumed on May 19th and a week later the obscure new US-based Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) – backed by Israel and the United States – began distributing food aid. The rival aid efforts have sparked a war of words – pitting Israel, the US and the GHF against the UN, international aid groups and dozens of governments from around the world. Israel and the US accuse Hamas of stealing aid – which the militants deny – and the UN of failing to prevent it. The UN says it has not seen evidence of mass aid diversion in Gaza by Hamas. The IPC alert said 88 per cent of Gaza is under evacuation orders or within militarised areas. 'People's access to food across Gaza is now alarmingly erratic and extremely perilous,' it said. The IPC and its independent Famine Review Committee were both critical of the GHF efforts in the alert issued on Tuesday. The IPC said most of the GHF 'food items are not ready-to-eat and require water and fuel to cook, which are largely unavailable'. The Famine Review Committee said: 'Our analysis of the food packages supplied by the GHF shows that their distribution plan would lead to mass starvation.' The GHF says it has been able to transport aid into Gaza without any being stolen by Hamas and that it has so far distributed more than 96 million meals. The IPC alert said an estimated minimum of 62,000 metric tonnes of staple food is required every month to cover the basic food needs of the Gazan population. But it said that according to the Israeli military aid co-ordination agency, only 19,900 metric tonnes of food entered Gaza in May and 37,800 in June. The war in Gaza was triggered on October 7th, 2023, when Hamas killed 1,200 people in southern Israel and took some 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, Israel's military campaign has killed nearly 60,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities. – Reuters