UN calls Gaza the 'hungriest place on Earth' as ceasefire deal hangs in the balance
Hamas said on Friday that it was still reviewing a US proposal for a temporary ceasefire, as the UN called Gaza "the hungriest place on Earth". The ceasefire plan, which has been approved by Israeli officials, has had lukewarm reaction from the militant group.The US proposal "does not respond to any of our people's demands, foremost among which is stopping the war and famine", a top Hamas official said on Thursday.However, the group has not yet officially rejected the plan and said it was continuing to study the details closely.The uncertainty over the new proposal came as hospital officials said that 27 people had been killed Friday in separate airstrikes. A strike that hit a tent in the southern city of Khan Younis killed 13, including eight children, hospital officials said. The Israeli military did not immediately comment.
Meanwhile, the bodies of 12 people, including three women, were brought to Shifa Hospital on Friday from the nearby Jabaliya refugee camp. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said the bodies of two others were brought to a hospital in Gaza City.
Starving Gazans continue to be deprived of aid as international relief efforts are being severely constrained by the Israeli authorities, the UN humanitarian affairs coordination office OCHA said on Friday.'Gaza is the hungriest place on Earth,' OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke told reporters in Geneva, stressing that it is the only defined territory in the world where the entire population is at risk of famine.'The aid operation that we have ready to roll is being put in an operational straitjacket that makes it one of the most obstructed aid operations, not only in the world today, but in recent history,' he said.
Laerke explained that out of nearly 900 aid trucks that were approved to enter Gaza, less than 600 have been arrived and an even lower number has been picked up for distribution.'It is drip-feeding food into an area on the verge of catastrophic hunger,' he insisted, adding that many of the trucks were 'swarmed by desperate people' on the way.On Wednesday, hungry crowds overran a UN World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza, where limited stocks of wheat flour had been pre-positioned for use by the few bakeries able to resume operations. The incident reportedly left two people dead.
In a statement WFP reiterated warnings over 'the risks imposed by limiting humanitarian aid to hungry people in desperate need of assistance'.A new US and Israeli-backed aid distribution scheme run by a private entity called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation started operating independently of the UN this week in the Strip. On Tuesday at least 47 Palestinians were reportedly shot and injured trying to collect aid from its distribution facility in the south, according to information received by UN human rights office, OHCHR.Laerke told reporters that that criteria for getting aid have to be based on need, and not the ability to walk for kilometres to a distribution point.'It creates chaos, and it creates a situation that is extremely dangerous for people,' Laerke said. 'Even if you enter one of those distribution points, pick up a package, the minute you're out of it… Are you a target for looters again? Yes, you are.'Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump claimed on Friday that negotiators were nearing a ceasefire deal.
When asked about Hamas' response to the deal, he said: "They're very close to an agreement on Gaza, and we'll let you know about it during the day or maybe tomorrow."
Since the war began, more than 54,000 Gaza residents, mostly women and children , have been killed according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its tally.
The war began when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and taking 250 hostages.
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