LIVE: Israel lets aid into Gaza, but UN says it's not enough to stop famine
Authorities in Gaza say six more Palestinians, including two children, have starved to death, bringing the total toll from hunger to 133 since Israel's war began.
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Al Jazeera
3 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
More than 70 aid seekers killed as starvation worsens in Gaza
Israeli attacks have killed at least 71 Palestinians seeking humanitarian aid amid a deepening hunger crisis in Gaza, medical sources told Al Jazeera, as hospitals in the besieged territory recorded seven more deaths from famine and malnutrition. At least 51 people were killed and more than 648 others were wounded by Israeli forces on Wednesday as they were heading towards the Zikim crossing point for aid trucks entering northern Gaza, according to the Gaza Government Media Office. Another 20 people seeking aid were killed near the so-called Morag Corridor near Khan Younis in southern Gaza, the Nasser Medical Complex reported. More than 1,000 Palestinians seeking aid have been killed by Israeli forces near aid distribution sites run by the US and Israeli-backed GHF, which launched operations in late May. The GHF has been heavily criticised by the UN and other humanitarian organisations for failing to provide enough aid and for the dire security situation at and around its aid distribution sites. The attacks come as aid agencies and health officials warn of a sharp rise in starvation, particularly among children and the elderly. The Gaza Health Ministry said 154 people, including 89 children, have died of malnutrition, most in recent weeks. A global hunger monitor said on Tuesday that a famine scenario is unfolding. Among those struggling to survive is Jihan al-Quraan, a mother who spoke to Al Jazeera while holding her young daughter. 'Look at her stomach! There is no flesh, just bones from the lack of food – an entire month without bread,' she said. Al-Quraan said she tried to get food at a crowded soup kitchen, but returned empty-handed. 'I only found some dry pasta shells on the floor,' she added. Despite mounting needs, aid entering Gaza remains far below required levels. Adnan Abu Hasna, a spokesman for UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, told Al Jazeera Arabic that the trickle of aid allowed into Gaza 'does not reach the majority of the population'. According to the UN, Gaza needs at least 500 to 600 aid trucks per day to meet basic humanitarian needs. Yet, only 269 trucks have entered the territory over the past four days. 'Most of them were looted by hungry crowds,' reported Al Jazeera's Tareq Abu Azzoum from Gaza. 'Now, looting aid is not very shocking. It has been a predictable outcome for a prolonged period of a starving population that has been denied access to water, food and medical supplies.' 'People have gone days without getting any kind of food,' he added. 'The number of trucks sent to the Gaza Strip falls short of meeting the needs of the population.' The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said it had documented the deaths of dozens of elderly people in displacement camps 'due to starvation, malnutrition, or lack of treatment'. 'Many of these deaths were recorded as natural causes, owing to the absence of a clear reporting mechanism within the ministry and the tendency of families to bury their loved ones immediately,' the group said in a statement on X. It added that hospitals and primary care centres have seen an 'unprecedented surge' in daily deaths over the past two weeks, with hundreds of elderly people arriving in 'states of extreme exhaustion, seeking nutritional fluids'. Israeli bombardment continues At least 15 other people were killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza on Wednesday, medical sources told Al Jazeera. That includes the minimum three people, including Palestinian photojournalist Ibrahim Mahmoud Hajjaj, 35, were killed in two separate Israeli air strikes in Gaza City. One strike targeted a group of people near az-Zahra School in the central Daraj neighbourhood, killing two and wounding others. A second strike in eastern Gaza City killed Hajjaj. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 178 journalists have been killed during Israel's war on Gaza since October 7. Since the war began, Israeli attacks have killed at least 60,138 Palestinians and wounded more than 146,000 others, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attack on October 7, and more than 200 others were taken captive. Gaza annexation threat Meanwhile, an Israeli minister hinted at the possibility of annexing parts of Gaza – a move that could any remaining hopes of a two-state solution and further entrench Israel's occupation in violation of international law. Accusing Hamas of trying to drag out ceasefire talks to gain Israeli concessions, security cabinet member Zeev Elkin told public broadcaster Kan that Israel may give the group an ultimatum to reach a deal before further expanding its military actions. 'The most painful thing for our enemy is losing lands,' he said. 'A clarification to Hamas that the moment they play games with us they will lose land that they will never get back would be a significant pressure tool.' The remarks came just days after Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu said the Israeli government is 'advancing the destruction of Gaza'. 'The government is racing ahead for Gaza to be wiped out,' Eliyahu told Haredi radio station Kol Barama. 'Thank God, we are wiping out this evil. We are pushing this population that has been educated on 'Mein Kampf',' he said, referring to the 1925 autobiographical and political work by Adolf Hitler, the leader of Germany's Nazi Party. Eliyahu's comments drew widespread outrage, including from within Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's own coalition. However, Israeli media reports suggest the government is preparing a formal ultimatum to Hamas: agree to their terms of a ceasefire or face the annexation of territory. Israel's Channel 13 reported that Israel may seek to annex land adjacent to the Gaza perimeter fence, pushing up to one kilometre inside the Strip. These threats come as negotiations continue between Hamas and Israel, with mediation from the United States, Qatar and Egypt. Channel 12 reported that Israel has proposed a 60-day ceasefire that would include a partial withdrawal of troops from Gaza, but not an end to the war. A US official confirmed that special envoy Steve Witkoff would travel to Israel on Thursday to discuss 'next steps' to address the situation. Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump said he expected centres to be set up to feed more people inside Gaza. But for many Palestinians on the ground, those promises remain far removed from the daily fight for survival.
Al Jazeera
17 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Gaza's starving children face permanent damage from chronic hunger
Gaza's starving children face permanent damage from chronic hunger NewsFeed Doctors fear that even if aid reaches Gaza's starving children, it may come too late to save them from irreversible harm. The UN warns Israel has pushed Gaza to the 'brink of full-scale famine', as Al Jazeera's Ibrahim al-Khalili explains. Video Duration 06 minutes 21 seconds 06:21 Video Duration 02 minutes 08 seconds 02:08 Video Duration 01 minutes 12 seconds 01:12 Video Duration 01 minutes 13 seconds 01:13 Video Duration 00 minutes 48 seconds 00:48 Video Duration 02 minutes 19 seconds 02:19 Video Duration 02 minutes 44 seconds 02:44
Qatar Tribune
a day ago
- Qatar Tribune
Death toll in Israel's war on Gaza surpasses 60,000
Agencies Gaza At least 60,034 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since the war on Gaza erupted in October 2023, according to the enclave's Ministry of Health. The grim milestone was reached on Tuesday, with medical sources telling Al Jazeera that at least 81 Palestinians, including 19 aid seekers, have been killed since dawn, despite 'pauses' in fighting to deliver essential humanitarian aid. Local accounts indicate that Israel used booby-trapped robots, as well as tanks and drones, in what residents describe as one of the bloodiest nights in recent weeks, said Al Jazeera's Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza. 'This is a sign of a possible imminent Israeli ground manoeuvre, although Israel has not yet confirmed the objectives of the attack,' he said. The latest attacks come as the 'worst-case scenario of famine' is unfolding in Gaza, according to a new report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a global hunger monitoring system. 'Latest data indicates that famine thresholds have been reached for food consumption in most of the Gaza Strip and for acute malnutrition in Gaza City,' it said in the report. 'Amid relentless conflict, mass displacement, severely restricted humanitarian access, and the collapse of essential services, including healthcare, the crisis has reached an alarming and deadly turning point,' the IPC document added. Food consumption has sharply deteriorated, with one in three individuals going without food for days at atime, it said. Malnutrition rose rapidly in the first half of July, with more than 20,000 children being admitted for treatment for acute malnutrition between April and mid-July. More than 3,000 of them are severely malnourished. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said Gaza is already facing famine, citing the latest assessment from IPC. 'The facts are in – and they are undeniable,' Guterres said in a statement. 'Palestinians in Gaza are enduring a humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions. This is not a warning. It is a reality unfolding before our eyes.' He demanded that aid deliveries no longer be blocked or delayed. 'The trickle of aid must become an ocean. Food, water, medicine, and fuel must flow in waves and without obstruction,' he said. 'This nightmare must end. Ending this worst-case scenario will take the best efforts of all parties now.' Guterres once again urged an 'immediate and permanent humanitarian ceasefire,' the unconditional release of all captives, and full access for humanitarian agencies across the enclave. The IPC alert comes against the backdrop of its latest analysis released in May, which projected that by September, the entire population of Gaza would face high levels of acute food shortages, with more than 500,000 people expected to be in a state of extreme food deprivation, starvation, and destitution, unless Israel lifts its blockade and stops its military campaign. Interactive_60,0000_killed_Gaza_BurjKhalifa Israel's genocidal war on Gaza and humanitarian blockade, which it lifted partially in March, continues to plunge the Palestinian territory into an increasingly dire malnutrition crisis as at least 147 people, including 88 children, have died from malnutrition since the start of the war, the Health Ministry said on Monday. Starvation is affecting all sectors of the population, with Sima Bahous, the executive director of UN Women, saying one million women and girls in Gaza face the 'unthinkable choice' of starving or risking their lives while searching for food. 'This horror must end,' Bahous said in a social media post, calling for unhindered access of humanitarian aid into the Strip, the release of captives and a permanent ceasefire. Babies particularly affected Medical staff at Gaza's hospitals are seeing babies severely malnourished 'without muscles and fat tissue, just the skin over the bone', the director of paediatrics and maternity at Nasser Hospital, Ahmed al-Farra, told Al Jazeera. The long-term consequences of malnutrition for babies, infants and children are severe as they are still developing their central nervous system during the first three years of their lives, said al-Farra. Advertisement Babies who have been malnourished will not have the required folic acid, B1 complex and polyunsaturated fatty acids that are essential for the composition of the central nervous system. Al-Farrah said malnutrition can affect cognitive development in the future, make it hard for a child to read and write, and lead to depression and anxiety. Tanya Haj Hassan, a doctor with the NGO Doctors Without Borders (MSF), explains that serious health risks remain even after food becomes available again. 'The reality is the problem doesn't end when the food arrives … malnutrition impacts all aspects of the body's function,' Hassan told Al Jazeera.
