Over 100 aid organisations warn of mass starvation in Gaza
The UN have said that over 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel while trying to access aid since the US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation started operations in late May, effectively sidelining the existing UN-led system, with repeated onslaughts continuing.
The humanitarian situation in Gaza has reached catastrophic levels with more than two million people facing severe shortages of food and other essentials. Over 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel while trying to access aid. Pic: AFP via Getty Images
A statement with 111 signatories, including Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Save the Children and Oxfam, warned that 'our colleagues and those we serve are wasting away'.
The large group of NGOs are calling for an immediate ceasefire, the opening of all land crossings and the free flow of aid through UN-led mechanisms.
The statement came a day after the United States said its envoy Steve Witkoff will head to Europe this week for talks on Gaza and may then visit the Middle East.
State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters that he comes with 'a strong hope that we will come forward with another ceasefire as well as a humanitarian corridor for aid to flow, that both sides have in fact agreed to'. The large group of NGOs are calling for an immediate ceasefire. Pic: Ahmed Jihad Ibrahim Al-arini/Anadolu via Getty Images
In their statement, the aid organisations said that warehouses with tonnes of supplies were sitting untouched just outside Gaza, and even inside, as they were blocked from accessing or delivering the goods.
They stated: '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.'
21 children have died due to malnutrition and starvation in Gaza in the last few days, according to the head of their largest hospital.
Mohammed Abu Salmiya, the director of Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza, told reporters that new cases of malnutrition and starvation were arriving at Gaza's remaining functioning hospitals 'every moment'.
He added: 'We are heading towards alarming numbers of deaths due to the starvation inflicted on the people of Gaza.' Israeli attack destroys UN-run School in Central Gaza. Pic: by Moiz Salhi/Anadolu via Getty Images
The Secretary-General of the United Nations also warned that the 'last lifelines' keeping people alive in Gaza are collapsing and that the 'horror' the Israeli military has inflicted upon Palestinians was unprecedented in recent years.
In a strongly worded statement, António Guterres condemned the 'accelerating breakdown of humanitarian conditions' in Gaza and the repeated slaughter of people trying to reach vital aid.
At least 67 people waiting for UN aid lorries in Gaza were killed by the Israeli military on Sunday alone.
Guterres said: 'Civilians must be protected and respected, and they must never be targeted.
'The population in Gaza remains gravely undersupplied with the basic necessities of life.'
He added that Israel has an 'obligation' to allow humanitarian relief to be given to people who are suffering and that the current system is being 'undermined'.
Guterres' comments came just after 25 countries, including Ireland, called for an immediate end to the war while saying suffering in Gaza had 'reached new depths'.
The letter was signed by the foreign ministers of more than two dozen countries, including Britain, France, Australia and Canada.
Israel rejected the letter, describing it as being 'disconnected from reality'.
Israeli forces have killed 59,106 Palestinians in Gaza since October 7, 2023, most of which were civilians, according to health officials.
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