
China rewrites global health leadership as US retreats from WHO
Ruby Wang is the founder of LINTRIS Health, a health and life sciences consultancy bridging East and West for public and private sector clients, and founder of the ChinaHealthPulse newsletter.
The 78th World Health Assembly in Geneva this May marked a turning point in global health diplomacy. For the first time since the founding of the World Health Organization, the U.S. was both financially and diplomatically absent. It sent no senior officials and has withdrawn all funding, with little indication of re-engagement.
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Yomiuri Shimbun
10 hours ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
‘Worst-Case Scenario of Famine' Is Happening in Gaza, Food Crisis Experts Warn
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The 'worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in the Gaza Strip,' the leading international authority on food crises said in a new alert Tuesday, predicting 'widespread death' without immediate action. The alert, still short of a formal famine declaration, follows an outcry over images of emaciated children in Gaza and reports of dozens of hunger-related deaths after nearly 22 months of war. International pressure led Israel over the weekend to announce measures, including daily humanitarian pauses in fighting in parts of Gaza and airdrops. The U.N. and Palestinians on the ground say little has changed, and desperate crowds continue to overwhelm delivery trucks before they reach their destinations. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, said Gaza has teetered on the brink of famine for two years, but recent developments have 'dramatically worsened' the situation, including 'increasingly stringent blockades' by Israel. A formal famine declaration, which is rare, requires the kind of data that the lack of access to Gaza, and mobility within, has largely denied. The IPC has only declared famine a few times — in Somalia in 2011, South Sudan in 2017 and 2020, and parts of Sudan's western Darfur region last year. But independent experts say they don't need a formal declaration to know what they're seeing in Gaza. 'Just as a family physician can often diagnose a patient she's familiar with based on visible symptoms without having to send samples to the lab and wait for results, so too we can interpret Gaza's symptoms. This is famine,' Alex de Waal, author of 'Mass Starvation: The History and Future of Famine' and executive director of the World Peace Foundation, told The Associated Press. What it takes to declare famine An area is classified as in famine when all three of the following conditions are confirmed: At least 20% of households have an extreme lack of food, or are essentially starving. At least 30% of children six months to 5 years old suffer from acute malnutrition or wasting, meaning they're too thin for their height. And at least two people or four children under 5 per 10,000 are dying daily due to starvation or the interaction of malnutrition and disease. The report is based on available information through July 25 and says the crisis has reached 'an alarming and deadly turning point.' It says data indicate that famine thresholds have been reached for food consumption in most of Gaza — at its lowest level since the war began — and for acute malnutrition in Gaza City. The report says nearly 17 out of every 100 children under the age of 5 in Gaza City are acutely malnourished. Mounting evidence shows 'widespread starvation.' Essential health and other services have collapsed. One in three people in Gaza is going without food for days at a time, according to the World Food Program. Hospitals report a rapid increase in hunger-related deaths in children under 5. Gaza's population of over 2 million has been squeezed into increasingly tiny areas of the devastated territory. 'This is not a warning. It is a reality unfolding before our eyes,' U.N. secretary-general Antonio Guterres said in a statement on the new report, adding that the 'trickle of aid must become an ocean.' More deaths to come The IPC alert calls for immediate and large-scale action and warns: 'Failure to act now will result in widespread death in much of the strip.' Humanitarian workers agreed. 'If we don't have the conditions to react to this mass starvation, we will see this exponential rise,' said Rachael Cummings, humanitarian director for Save the Children International, based in Gaza. 'So we will see thousands and potentially tens of thousands of people die in Gaza. That is preventable.' She described children digging through trash piles outside their office, looking for food. Anything less than a ceasefire and a return to the U.N.-led aid system in place before Israel's blockade in early March 'is policymakers condemning tens of thousands of people in Gaza to death, starvation and disease,' said Rob Williams, CEO for War Child Alliance. 'All of the children who are currently malnourished will die. That is, unless there's an absolutely rapid and consistent reversal of what is happening,' said Dr. Tarek Loubani, medical director for Glia, based in Gaza. 'Open every border crossing' Israel has restricted aid to varying degrees throughout the war. In March, it cut off the entry of all goods, including fuel, food and medicine, to pressure Hamas to free hostages. Israel eased those restrictions in May but also pushed ahead with a new U.S.-backed aid delivery system that has been wracked by chaos and violence. The traditional, U.N.-led aid providers say deliveries have been hampered by Israeli military restrictions and incidents of looting, while criminals and hungry crowds swarm entering convoys. While Israel says there's no limit on how many aid trucks can enter Gaza, U.N. agencies and aid groups say even the latest humanitarian measures are not enough to counter the worsening starvation. 'The fastest and most effective way to save lives right now is to open every border crossing,' Tjada D'Oyen McKenna, head of Mercy Corps. the international relief agency, said in a statement Tuesday. Aid groups call the airdrops ineffective and dangerous, saying they deliver less aid than trucks. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said no one is starving in Gaza and that Israel has supplied enough aid throughout the war, 'otherwise, there would be no Gazans.' Israel's closest ally now appears to disagree. 'Those children look very hungry,' President Donald Trump said Monday.


Yomiuri Shimbun
a day ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Israel's Leader Claims No One in Gaza Is Starving. Data and Witnesses Disagree
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says no one in Gaza is starving: 'There is no policy of starvation in Gaza, and there is no starvation in Gaza. We enable humanitarian aid throughout the duration of the war to enter Gaza – otherwise, there would be no Gazans.' President Donald Trump on Monday said he disagrees with Netanyahu's claim of no starvation in Gaza, noting the images emerging of emaciated people: 'Those children look very hungry.' After international pressure, Israel over the weekend announced humanitarian pauses, airdrops and other measures meant to allow more aid to Palestinians in Gaza. But people there say little or nothing has changed on the ground. The U.N. has described it as a one-week scale-up of aid, and Israel has not said how long these latest measures would last. 'This aid, delivered in this way, is an insult to the Palestinian people,' said Hasan Al-Zalaan, who was at the site of an airdrop as some fought over the supplies and crushed cans of chickpeas littered the ground. Israel asserts that Hamas is the reason aid isn't reaching Palestinians in Gaza and accuses its militants of siphoning off aid to support its rule in the territory. The U.N. denies that looting of aid is systematic and that it lessens or ends entirely when enough aid is allowed to enter Gaza. Here's what we know: Deaths are increasing The World Health Organization said Sunday there have been 63 malnutrition-related deaths in Gaza this month, including 24 children under the age of 5 — up from 11 deaths total the previous six months of the year. Gaza's Health Ministry puts the number even higher, reporting 82 deaths this month of malnutrition-related causes: 24 children and 58 adults. It said Monday that 14 deaths were reported in the past 24 hours. The ministry, which operates under the Hamas government, is headed by medical professionals and is seen by the U.N. as the most reliable source of data on casualties. U.N. agencies also often confirm numbers through other partners on the ground. The Patient's Friends Hospital, the main emergency center for malnourished kids in northern Gaza, says this month it saw for the first time malnutrition deaths in children who had no preexisting conditions. Some adults who died suffered from such illnesses as diabetes or had heart or kidney ailments made worse by starvation, according to Gaza medical officials. The WHO also says acute malnutrition in northern Gaza tripled this month, reaching nearly one in five children under 5 years old, and has doubled in central and southern Gaza. The U.N. says Gaza's only four specialized treatment centers for malnutrition are 'overwhelmed.' The leading international authority on food crises, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, has warned of famine for months in Gaza but has not formally declared one, citing the lack of data as Israel restricts access to the territory. Aid trucks are swarmed by hungry people The measures announced by Israel late Saturday include 10-hour daily humanitarian pauses in fighting in three heavily populated areas, so that U.N. trucks can more more easily distribute food. Still, U.N. World Food Program spokesperson Martin Penner said the agency's 55 trucks of aid that entered Gaza on Monday via the crossings of Zikim and Kerem Shalom were looted by starving people before they reached WFP warehouses. Experts say that airdrops, another measure Israel announced, are insufficient for the immense need in Gaza and dangerous to people on the ground. Israel's military says 48 food packages were dropped Sunday and Monday. Palestinians say they want a full return to the U.N.-led aid distribution system that was in place throughout the war, rather than the Israeli-backed mechanism that began in May. Witnesses and health workers say Israeli forces have killed hundreds by opening fire on Palestinians trying to reach those food distribution hubs or while crowding around entering aid trucks. Israel's military says it has fired warning shots to disperse threats. The U.N. and partners say that the best way to bring food into Gaza is by truck, and they have called repeatedly for Israel to loosen restrictions on their entry. A truck carries roughly 19 tons of supplies. Israel's military says that as of July 21, 95,435 trucks of aid have entered Gaza since the war began. That's an average of 146 trucks per day, and far below the 500 to 600 trucks per day that the U.N. says are needed. The rate has sometimes been as low as half of that for several months at a time. Nothing went in for 2 1/2 months starting in March because Israel imposed a complete blockade on food, fuel and other supplies entering Gaza. Delivering aid is difficult and slow The U.N. says that delivering the aid that is allowed into Gaza has become increasingly difficult. When aid enters, it is left just inside the border in Gaza, and the U.N. must get Israeli military permission to send trucks to pick it up. But the U.N. says the military has denied or impeded just over half the movement requests for its trucks in the past three months. If the U.N. succeeds in picking up the aid, hungry crowds and armed gangs swarm the convoys and strip them of supplies. The Hamas-run civilian police once provided security along some routes, but that stopped after Israel targeted them with airstrikes.


Yomiuri Shimbun
2 days ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Israeli Fire Kills Dozens in Gaza, Officials Say, as Aid Delivery Remains Chaotic after New Measures
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli strikes or gunfire killed at least 78 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Monday, including a pregnant woman whose baby was delivered after her death but also died, local health officials said. Dozens were killed while seeking food, even as Israel moved to ease restrictions on the entry of aid. Under mounting pressure over the spiraling hunger crisis in Gaza, Israel said over the weekend that the military would pause operations in Gaza City, Deir al-Balah and Muwasi for 10 hours a day and designate secure routes for aid delivery. International airdrops of aid have also resumed. Aid agencies say the new measures are not enough to counter worsening starvation in the territory. Martin Penner, a spokesperson for the U.N. food agency, told The Associated Press that all 55 of its aid trucks that entered on Sunday were unloaded by crowds before reaching their destination. Another U.N. official said nothing on the ground has changed and no alternative routes were allowed. Israel said it would continue military operations alongside the new humanitarian measures. Newborn dies after complex surgery A baby girl died hours after being delivered in a complex emergency cesarean. She had been placed in an incubator and was breathing with assistance from a ventilator, AP footage showed. Her mother, Soad al-Shaer, who had been seven months pregnant with her, was among 12 Palestinians killed in an Israeli airstrike on a house and neighboring tents in the Muwasi area of Khan Younis, according to Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies. Another strike hit a two-story house in Khan Younis, killing at least 11 people, more than half of them women and children, according to the hospital. At least five others were killed in strikes elsewhere in Gaza, according to other hospitals. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on most of the strikes. It said it was not aware of one strike in Gaza City during the pause that health officials said killed one person. Israel says it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas because the militants operate in densely populated areas. The daily airstrikes across the territory frequently kill women and children. Israel allows more aid to enter Images of emaciated children have sparked outrage around the world, including from Israel's close allies. U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday called the images of emaciated and malnourished children in Gaza 'terrible.' Israel has restricted aid to varying degrees throughout the war. In March, it cut off the entry of all goods, including fuel, food and medicine, to pressure Hamas to free hostages. Israel partially lifted those restrictions in May but also pushed ahead on a new U.S.-backed aid delivery system that has been wracked by chaos and violence. Traditional aid providers have encountered a breakdown in law and order surrounding their deliveries. COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of coordinating aid shipments, said U.N. agencies collected 120 trucks for distribution on Sunday and that another 180 trucks had been allowed into Gaza. The United Nations and aid groups say the territory needs 500-600 trucks a day to meet its needs. Israel's blockade and military operations have destroyed nearly all food production in the territory of roughly 2 million Palestinians. Aid groups say airdrops are ineffective Also on Monday, two air force planes from Jordan and the United Arab Emirates airdropped 17 tons of humanitarian aid in Gaza — an amount that would fill less than a single aid truck. Aid groups say airdrops are often ineffective and dangerous, with falling parcels landing on people or in combat zones or other dangerous areas. 'At the moment, 2 million people are trapped in a tiny piece of land, which makes up just 12% of the whole strip — if anything lands in this area, people will inevitably be injured,' said Jean Guy Vataux, emergency coordinator in Gaza for Doctors Without Borders. 'If the airdrops land in areas where Israel has issued displacement orders, people will be forced to enter militarized zones — once again risking their lives for food,' he added. The head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, Philippe Lazzarini, warned that airdrops are 'expensive, inefficient and can even kill starving civilians,' and would not address the crisis. Dozens killed seeking aid, officials say At least 25 people were killed by Israeli forces while seeking aid from a truck convoy passing through the southern Gaza Strip, according to health officials and witnesses. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. Four children were among those killed, according to records at Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies. The shooting occurred in a military corridor Israel has carved out between the southern cities of Khan Younis and Rafah. It was not immediately clear who had supplied the convoy. Survivors at the hospital said Israeli forces had fired toward the crowds. More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire while seeking aid since May, according to the U.N. human rights office, witnesses and local health officials. The Israeli military has said it only fires warning shots at people who approach its forces. The Awda hospital in central Gaza said it received the bodies of seven Palestinians who it said were killed by Israeli fire close to an aid distribution site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an Israeli-backed American contractor. The hospital said 20 others were wounded close to the site. GHF did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Fares Awad, head of the Gaza Health Ministry's emergency service, said at least five Palestinians were killed and about 30 others were wounded by Israeli gunfire while waiting for aid trucks from the Zikim Crossing near Gaza City. Hamas started the war with its Oct. 7, 2023, attack, in which Palestinian militants killed some 1,200 people and abducted 251 others. They still hold 50, and Israel believes that more than half the remaining hostages are dead. Most of the rest were released in ceasefires or other deals. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 59,800 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Its count doesn't distinguish between militants and civilians. The ministry operates under the Hamas government. The U.N. and other international organizations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties.