Over 100 humanitarian groups sound alarm on starvation of staff in Gaza
Famine caused by Israel's ongoing war and blockade has led to a growing number of deaths from malnutrition and dehydration in recent days.
A joint letter released on Wednesday, signed by 109 organisations, including Amnesty International, War Child UK, and EuroMed Rights, warns that the humanitarian crisis is reaching catastrophic levels.
'As the Israeli government's siege starves the people of Gaza, aid workers are now joining the same food lines, risking being shot just to feed their families," the joint letter said.
"With supplies now totally depleted, humanitarian organisations are witnessing their own colleagues and partners waste away before their eyes."
New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch
Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters
The signatories rejected the "military-controlled distribution models," in reference to the scandal-ridden Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an Israeli-US initiative designed to bypass the UN's infrastructure for aid delivery and distribution in Gaza.
They also urged the immediate lifting of the Israeli blockade and allowing aid groups to do their work.
"Humanitarian agencies have the capacity and supplies to respond at scale," the statement added.
"But, with access denied, we are blocked from reaching those in need, including our own exhausted and starved teams.
"Every day without a sustained flow means more people dying of preventable illnesses. Children starve while waiting for promises that never arrive."
'Chaos, starvation and death'
The organisations also accused Israel of creating "chaos, starvation, and death", noting that the starvation of civilians as a "method of warfare is a war crime".
"Palestinians are trapped in a cycle of hope and heartbreak, waiting for assistance and ceasefires, only to wake up to worsening conditions. It is not just physical torment, but psychological.
"Survival is dangled like a mirage. The humanitarian system cannot run on false promises. Humanitarians cannot operate on shifting timelines or wait for political commitments that fail to deliver access."
As a medical aid worker, I've never seen suffering like Gaza. It must end Read More »
The statement comes after the after Palestinian health ministry on Tuesday announced that 15 Palestinians died from malnutrition the previous day.
Ten more people died from lack of food on Wednesday.
In total, 111 Palestinians, including 80 children, have died from malnutrition, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
On Monday, AFP journalists' union warned that its colleagues working in Gaza are facing death from starvation, as a result of Israel's blockade on the besieged Palestinian territory.
"We have lost journalists in conflicts, we have had wounded and imprisoned in our ranks, but none of us remembers seeing a colleague die of hunger," the union, Society of Journalists (SDJ), said in a statement.
Following the union's statement, AFP management said it "shares the anguish expressed by the SDJ regarding the appalling situation of its staff" and urged Israel to allow their evacuation.
"For months, we have been helplessly witnessing the dramatic deterioration of their living conditions. Their situation is now untenable, despite exemplary courage, professional commitment and resilience," an AFP statement said.
The AFP has ten Palestinian photographers and reporters working in the enclave.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Middle East Eye
3 hours ago
- Middle East Eye
'A distraction': Unrwa says Israeli and GHF claims over UN aid delivery are baseless
The United Nations Reliefs and Work Agency (Unrwa) has hit back at a smear campaign launched by Israel and the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF) accusing the UN of failing to deliver aid and being responsible for the mass famine underway in Gaza. In a video placed by the Israeli Government Advertising Agency, a narrator is heard saying: "While Israel cleared hundreds of trucks that crossed into Gaza, the UN refuses to distribute the aid. These trucks stand idle inside Gaza next to growing stockpiles of supplies. This is deliberate sabotage by the UN." The video then shows dozens of immobile trucks. Juliette Touma, director of communications at Unrwa, debunked the claims that trucks were sitting "idle" in Gaza, and aid within the enclave had not been delivered. "We have 6,000 trucks stuck in Jordan and Egypt full of food and medicines," Touma told Middle East Eye. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters "They have not been given the green light to get into Gaza where people are starving." Separately, the GHF chairman, evangelical Christian minister Reverend Johnnie Moore, wrote a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday and to the Under-Secretary General of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Tom Fletcher, on Tuesday, saying he wanted to collaborate with the UN and accused the UN of leaving aid abandoned in Gaza. In the letter addressed to Guterres, Moore wrote that he wished to collaborate with the UN. "The time has come to confront, without euphemism or delay, the structural failure of aid delivery in Gaza, and to course-correct decisively," he wrote. 'We have 6,000 trucks stuck in Jordan and Egypt full of food and medicines. They have not been given the green light to get into Gaza where people are starving' - Juliette Touma, Unrwa Moore said the "crisis was driven by the ability to deliver the food directly to those who need it. The UN's continued reliance on what it has termed 'existing infrastructure' has, in practice enabled the obstruction of aid". Moore blamed the failure of food delivery to civilians on the "manipulation of humanitarian flows by bad actors" without identifying who the "bad actors" were. He called on the UN to work directly with GHF to deliver "food at scale". In a letter to Fletcher, he accused the UN of leaving aid sitting around and failing to deliver it. Israel's ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, also accused OCHA of being a "propaganda machine" against Israel, which he said purposely undercounts aid trucks heading into Gaza. The campaign comes as mass famine reaches critical levels with two million people on the brink of starvation in the enclave. 'A distraction to the inaction' Touma from Unrwa said that aid had been waiting to enter Gaza since 2 March. On 18 March, Israel abruptly ended the ceasefire that had been in place since 19 January, and has maintained a blockade on the Strip. Touma said there had to be "political will" for UN teams to enter, and added that the smears against the UN were "nothing new" and were distracting from the real issue: people starving in Gaza. "Distractions like these will delay actions that are needed. Children and adults are dying of starvation. Because of this scam of a distribution system [GHF], more than 1,000 starving people have been killed. "It's time to lift the siege, let aid in and release the hostages. It's time to allow Unrwa to do its work. There will be irreversible consequences if we do not." She advocated returning to the existing infrastructure in place managed by Unrwa. Unrwa has been banned from the occupied West Bank and Gaza since October. Children in Gaza show signs of malnutrition and abuse after detention in Israel Read More » She added that there was "a lot of manipulation of information" and called on media organisations to verify the videos being sent. "The media gets fixated on information that one side to the conflict is putting out. That's a distraction from the atrocities including the deliberate starvation of Palestinian people. "It's time for the media to verify these videos and geolocate the trucks and whether these videos are from Gaza or not, and when they were actually stationed there." Unrwa's Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said on Thursday that the mass starvation was "constructed and deliberate". In a statement, he said that GHF's flawed distribution system is not designed to address the humanitarian crisis. "It's serving military and political objectives. It's cruel as it takes more lives than it saves lives. Israel controls all aspects of humanitarian access, whether outside or within Gaza." He also said that airdrops – which Israel had approved – were "the most expensive and inefficient way to deliver aid". "It is a distraction to the inaction," he added. Starvation More than 100 humanitarian organisations warned on Wednesday that "mass famine" was spreading in the Gaza Strip after Israel blocked humanitarian aid from entering in early March and has been providing woefully inadequate aid via the controversial GHF since the end of May. MEE reported on Tuesday that renowned expert on famine, Professor Alex de Waal, accused Israel of "genocidal starvation" of Palestinians in Gaza with its continued deadly siege on the enclave. 'Because of this scam of a distribution system [GHF], more than 1,000 starving people have been killed' - Juliette Touma, Unrwa At least 122 Palestinians, including 80 children, have died of starvation since Israel's blockade resumed in March, including 15 who died of malnutrition on Monday, according to the Palestinian health ministry. Meanwhile, more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid at distribution sites run by the controversial GHF, in place since May and manned by Israeli soldiers and US security contractors. De Waal told MEE's live show on Tuesday that the UN is not in a position to declare famine due to Israel's obstruction of access to humanitarians and investigators who could gauge the extent of hunger. However, he said: "It is actually relatively straightforward if you are perpetrating a famine to shut out access to essential information and then say no one has declared famine. "Concealment of famine is an instrument of those who perpetrate it." De Waal added that famine is unfolding in Gaza in "a wholly predicted manner". De Waal is executive director of the World Peace Foundation, affiliated with the Fletcher School of Global Affairs at Tufts University, and the author of Mass Starvation: The History and Future of Famine.
Gulf Today
4 hours ago
- Gulf Today
UAE's foreign minister welcomes French stand on recognition of Palestine
Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, welcomed the announcement by Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic, regarding France's intention to recognise the State of Palestine. Sheikh Abdullah believes this step reinforces efforts by the international community to advance the two-state solution and establish a just and lasting peace in the region. Sheikh Abdullah expressed the UAE's appreciation for this significant decision, which comes at a critical juncture and underscores the need for the international community to uphold its responsibilities and work collectively to revive the political process and bring an end to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Such efforts would contribute to enhancing regional security and stability, while supporting the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, including the establishment of an independent, sovereign state in accordance with relevant United Nations resolutions and international law. Sheikh Abdullah also reaffirmed the UAE's unwavering commitment to the aspirations and rights of the Palestinian people, and to continued cooperation with regional and international partners to achieve a just and sustainable solution that ends the conflict and lays the groundwork for a more stable and prosperous future for the peoples of the region. WAM P
Middle East Eye
4 hours ago
- Middle East Eye
US asked Saudi Arabia to send missile interceptors to Israel during Iran conflict. Riyadh refused
Israel was running low on Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) interceptors as Iranian ballistic missiles slammed into Israeli cities in June. The US asked Saudi Arabia to turn over interceptors to help the US ally in need. But Riyadh's response was "no", two US officials familiar with the talks told Middle East Eye. "During the war, we asked everyone to donate," one official told MEE. "When that didn't work, we tried deal-making. It wasn't aimed at one country." But Saudi Arabia was well placed to help Israel, and US officials have been keen to emphasise that Iran is a threat to them as well as Israel. The US has already deployed air defence systems to the oil-rich Gulf state, which until recently was targeted by Houthi missile and drone attacks. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters As Iran and Israel were fighting it out, the kingdom was preparing to receive the first THAAD battery it purchased with its own sovereign funds. In fact, the battery was inaugurated by the Saudi military on 3 July, just nine days after Israel and Iran reached a ceasefire. Just before the inauguration, US officials were concerned that a massive Iranian ballistic missile attack on Israel would drain the US stockpile of interceptors to a "horrendous level". Middle East Eye was the first to report that Israel was rapidly depleting the US's stockpile of ballistic missile interceptors as well as Israel's arsenal of Arrow interceptors. The Wall Street Journal and The Guardian later confirmed MEE's report. The Guardian later reported in July that after the conflict, the US was only left with about 25 percent of the Patriot missile interceptors that planners at the Pentagon assess are needed for all US military operations globally. A US official confirmed that classified number to MEE. The US also fired the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) mounted on Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers to defend Israel. Iran receives Chinese surface-to-air missile batteries after Israel ceasefire deal Read More » Despite Israel's three-tiered air defence system being backed up by additional American firepower, Iran was able to send missiles into Israeli cities right up until the ceasefire was reached. The Telegraph reported that Iranian missiles directly hit five Israeli military facilities. Analysts say that the American and Israeli air defence systems held up better than some military planners anticipated, given the scale of Iran's barrages, but the Islamic Republic was able to exploit the system's weak spot, particularly as the conflict dragged on. "The weakness is that it is an enterprise where you are at risk of running out of your magazine depth. We only have so many interceptors and the ability to produce them," Douglas Birkey, executive director of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, previously told MEE. Amid the shortage, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that some US officials even discussed taking THAAD interceptors purchased by Saudi Arabia and diverting them to Israel. One US official confirmed to MEE that the talks took place after Saudi Arabia had rejected polite US overtures and deal-making efforts. Both US officials also told MEE that the US asked the United Arab Emirates to share interceptors with Israel. Neither would confirm if any arrived. The UAE was the first non-US country to purchase and operate the THAAD, which it activated in 2016. Iran's success breaching Israel's sophisticated air defences did not go unnoticed in the more lightly defended Gulf states, experts say. 'Israel paid a price' Scrambling the globe for interceptors has become a common job for a select few US officials as its allies, Israel and Ukraine, both face adversaries who rely on much cheaper ballistic missiles and drones. The US Department of Defense's office for policy has taken the lead in trying to cajole and coax US allies to share interceptors with Israel. The efforts were led by Christopher Mamaux, who is deputy assistant secretary of Defense for Global Partnerships. But Saudi Arabia's refusal to help Israel will sting officials in Washington. Before the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, the US was working to integrate Israel's air defence system with Gulf allies in part of a much hyped "Middle East Nato". Instead, Gulf states sat out the Israel-Iran conflict and felt "vindicated" they had revived relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran, analysts in the region told MEE. 'Vindicated': Unscathed by war, Gulf states look to capitalise on Israel and Iran's losses Read More » The Trump administration still says it wants to broker a normalisation deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia. But Riyadh and other Arab states are increasingly seeing Israel as an expansionist military power to check - not aid in a time of need. For example, Saudi Arabia lobbied the US for Syrian soldiers to deploy to southern Syria this month. Riyadh was upset that Israel launched strikes on Syrian government forces amid the sectarian clashes in the country. As the smoke clears from the Israel-Iran conflict, the flaws in Israel's missile defence system are being studied, and Iran is rebuilding its air defences with help from China, MEE has reported. As one Arab diplomat told MEE: "From our perspective the war ended well. Israel experienced the price of confronting a strong nation state." And Iran, trying to regroup from a blistering Israeli bombing campaign, is also becoming more dependent on the Gulf, too. "On Israel, the Saudi position has hardened in light of unchecked Israeli actions in Syria, Lebanon, Gaza and the West Bank. With Iran now weakened, the kingdom is repositioning closer to Turkey & may even do the same with Iran," Firas Maksad, Eurasia Group's managing director for the Middle East and North Africa, recently wrote on X.
