‘Worst-case scenario of famine' is happening in Gaza, food crisis experts say
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Arab News
8 hours ago
- Arab News
US envoy visits distribution site in Gaza as humanitarian crisis worsens
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff visited southern Gaza on Friday amid international outrage over starvation, shortages and deadly chaos near aid distribution sites. With food scarce and parcels being airdropped, Witkoff and US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee toured one of Gaza Humanitarian Foundation's distribution sites in Rafah, Gaza's southernmost city. Chapin Fay, the group's spokesperson, said the visit reflected Trump's understanding of the stakes and that 'feeding civilians, not Hamas, must be the priority.' All four of the group's sites are in zones controlled by the Israeli military and have become flashpoints of desperation during their months of operation, with starving people scrambling for scarce aid. Hundreds have been killed by either gunfire or trampling. The Israeli military says it has only fired warning shots at people who approach its forces, and GHF says its armed contractors have only used pepper spray or fired warning shots to prevent deadly crowding. Witkoff's visit comes a week after US officials walked away from ceasefire talks in Qatar, blaming Hamas and pledging to seek other ways to rescue Israeli hostages and make Gaza safe. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that Witkoff was sent to craft a plan to boost food and aid deliveries, while Trump wrote on social media that the fastest way to end the crisis would be for Hamas to surrender and release hostages. Officials at Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza said they have received the bodies of 25 people, including 13 who were killed while trying to get aid, including near the site that US officials visited. GHF denied anyone was killed at their sites on Friday and said most recent incidents had taken place near United Nations aid convoys. The remaining 12 were killed in airstrikes, the officials said. Israel's military did not immediately comment. Human Rights Watch: 'Near impossible' International organizations have said Gaza has been on the brink of famine for the past two years. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, the leading international authority on food crises, said recent developments, including a complete blockade on aid for 2 1/2 months, mean the 'worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in Gaza.' Though the flow of aid has resumed, including via airdrops, the amount getting into Gaza remains far lower than what aid organizations say is needed. A security breakdown in the territory has made it nearly impossible to safely deliver food to starving Palestinians, much of the limited aid entering is hoarded and later sold at exorbitant prices. At a Friday press conference in Gaza City, representatives of the territory's influential tribes accused Israel of empowering factions that loot aid sites and implored Witkoff to stay several hours in Gaza to witness life firsthand. 'We want the American envoy to come and live among us in these tents where there is no water, no food and no light,' they said. 'Our children are hungry in the streets.' In a report issued Friday, Human Rights Watch called the current setup 'a flawed, militarized aid distribution system that has turned aid distributions into regular bloodbaths.' 'It would be near impossible for Palestinians to follow the instructions issued by GHF, stay safe, and receive aid, particularly in the context of ongoing military operations, Israeli military sanctioned curfews, and frequent GHF messages saying that people should not travel to the sites before the distribution window opens,' the report said. It cited doctors, aid seekers and at least one security contractor. Since the group's operations began in late May, hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in shootings by Israeli soldiers while on roads heading to the sites, according to witnesses and health officials. The Israeli military has said its troops have only fired warning shots to control crowds. Responding to the report, Israel's military blamed Hamas for sabotaging the aid distribution system but said it was working to make the routes under its control safer for those traveling to aid sites. GHF did not immediately respond to questions about the report. The group has never allowed journalists to visit their sites and Israel's military has barred reporters from independently entering Gaza throughout the war. International condemnations have mounted as such reports trickle out of Gaza, including from aid organizations that previously oversaw distribution. A July 30 video published Thursday by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs showed an aid convoy driving past a border crossing as gunfire ricocheted off the ground near where crowds congregated. 'We were met on the road by tens of thousands of hungry and desperate people who directly offloaded everything from the backs of our trucks,' said Olga Cherevko, an OCHA staff member.
Arab News
a day ago
- Arab News
The Guardian releases documentary on plight of Palestinian doctors in Israel amid Gaza war
LONDON: The Guardian has released a new documentary exploring the complex reality faced by Palestinian doctors working in Israel, as they navigate systemic discrimination, deepening identity struggles, and mounting hostility amid the ongoing Gaza war. Titled 'The Oath: To Be a Palestinian Doctor in Israel's Healthcare System,' the 22-minute documentary follows Dr. Lina Qasem-Hassan, a Palestinian doctor living and working in Israel, as she upholds her medical oath to treat both Israelis and Palestinians amid the Gaza war. She highlighted that while Arab citizens comprise nearly a quarter of Israeli doctors, many face unequal treatment in access and opportunity. The physician said she is determined to use her oath to fight injustice. 'Since 7 October, Palestinian staff in the Israeli healthcare system have faced persecution, slander and paralysis. Anti-Palestinian sentiment is surging, even among patients and colleagues,' Qasem-Hassan wrote in her op-ed in The Guardian. She noted that Israeli policies in the expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank, forced displacement, and restriction of movement systematically restrict access to care, undermining the right to health for Palestinians both in Israel and the occupied territories. This impact has been further exacerbated by the war on Gaza, where at least 1,581 health workers have been killed since Oct. 7. Only 18 of Gaza's 36 hospitals remain partially functional amid the widespread destruction of the healthcare system, according to UN figures, leaving patients without access to treatment amid severe shortages of medical supplies and staff. The documentary recounts the death of Qasem-Hassan's relative Marwan, a paramedic who was killed in an airstrike while transporting the wounded to hospital just hours after the war began. Weeks later, another strike on a refugee camp claimed the lives of 10 more members of her family. 'All this takes place under deafening silence from the Israeli healthcare establishment and many of my fellow physicians, who too often choose silence over basic ethics and morality,' said Qasem-Hassan. As the chairwoman of Physicians for Human Rights — Israel, Qasem-Hassan detailed how her advocacy puts her at risk of suspension or persecution. Earlier this year, patients submitted complaints against her for alleged pro‑Palestinian views. Yet, she refused to stay silent. 'Any expression of sympathy for victims — women, children, innocent civilians — is seen as support for terror,' she wrote. 'And still, I continue to fight. Because as long as we remain silent, our oath is hollowed out, and the right to health becomes a fantasy too far to reach.' Torn between the decision to stay or leave Israel, Qasem-Hassan reflected: 'But I go back to the question: if I leave, who will stay behind?' For now, she remains committed to providing essential medical care to Palestinians and detainees in the West Bank and Gaza through Physicians for Human Rights — Israel, while also speaking out against the Gaza war both within Israel and on international platforms, as documented in the film.
Al Arabiya
a day ago
- Al Arabiya
‘If the baby could speak, she would scream': the risky measures to feed babies in Gaza
In a makeshift tent on a Gazan beach, three-month-old Muntaha's grandmother grinds up chickpeas into the tiniest granules she can to form a paste to feed the infant, knowing it will cause her to cry in pain, in a desperate race to keep the baby from starving. 'If the baby could speak, she would scream at us, asking what we are putting into her stomach,' her aunt, Abir Hamouda said. Muntaha grimaced and squirmed as her grandmother fed her the paste with a syringe. Muntaha's family is one of many in Gaza facing dire choices to try to feed babies, especially those below the age of six months who cannot process solid food. Infant formula is scarce after a plummet in aid access to Gaza. Many women cannot breastfeed due to malnourishment, while other babies are separated from their mothers due to displacement, injury or, in Muntaha's case, death. Her family says the baby's mother was hit by a bullet while pregnant, gave birth prematurely while unconscious in intensive care, and died a few weeks later. The director of the Shifa Hospital described such a case in a Facebook post on April 27, four days after Muntaha was born. 'I am terrified about the fate of the baby,' said her grandmother, Nemah Hamouda. 'We named her after her she can survive and live long, but we are so afraid, we hear children and adults die every day of hunger.' Muntaha now weighs about 3.5 kilograms, her family said, barely more than half of what a full-term baby her age would normally weigh. She suffers stomach problems like vomiting and diarrhea after feeding. Health officials, aid workers and Gazan families told Reuters many families are feeding infants herbs and tea boiled in water, or grinding up bread or sesame. Humanitarian agencies also reported cases of parents boiling leaves in water, eating animal feed and grinding sand into flour. Feeding children solids too early can disrupt their nutrition, cause stomach problems, and risk choking, pediatric health experts say. 'It's a desperate move to compensate for the lack of food,' said UNICEF spokesperson Salim Oweis. 'When mothers can't breastfeed or provide proper infant formula they resort to grinding chickpeas, bread, rice, anything that they can get their hands on to feed their children... it is risking their health because these supplies are not made for infants to feed on.' Baby bottles without milk Gaza's spiraling humanitarian crisis prompted the main world hunger monitoring body on Tuesday to say a worst-case scenario of famine is unfolding and immediate action is needed to avoid widespread death. Images of emaciated Palestinian children have shocked the world. Gazan health authorities have reported more and more people dying from hunger-related causes. The total so far stands at 154, among them 89 children, most of whom died in the last few weeks. With the international furore over Gaza's ordeal growing, Israel announced steps over the weekend to ease aid access. But the UN World Food Program said on Tuesday it was still not getting the permissions it needed to deliver enough aid. Israel and the US accuse militant group 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 Hamas diverting much aid. Hamas accuses Israel of causing starvation and using aid as a weapon, which the Israeli government denies. Humanitarian agencies say there is almost no infant formula left in Gaza. The cans available in the market cost over $100 – impossible to afford for families like Muntaha's, whose father has been jobless since the war closed his falafel business and displaced the family from their home. In the paediatric ward of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah, the infant formula supply is mostly depleted. One mother showed how she poured thick tahini sesame paste into a bottle and mixed it with water. 'I am using this instead of milk, to compensate her for milk, but she won't drink it,' said Azhar Imad, 31, the mother of four-month-old Joury. 'I also make her fenugreek, anise, caraway, any kind of herbs (mixed with water),' she said, panicked as she described how instead of nourishing her child, these attempts were making her sick. Medical staff at the hospital spoke of helplessness, watching on as children's health deteriorated with no way to safely feed them. 'Now, children are being fed either water or ground hard legumes, and this is harmful for children in Gaza,' said doctor Khalil Daqran. 'If the hunger continues ... within three or four days, if the child doesn't get access to milk immediately, then they will die,' he said.
