Gaza is now ‘the hungriest place on Earth' with entire region at risk of famine, warns United Nations
GAZA has become 'the hungriest place on Earth', the United Nations warned yesterday.
It said the territory's entire population was now at risk of famine.
Displaced
Women and children were among those gathered in
Jens Laerke, of the UN's humanitarian agency, said it was the only area on the planet where 100 per cent of the population was at risk of famine.
He added: 'Gaza is the hungriest place on
Earth
.'
Israel resumed military operations in March, ending a six-week truce.
Deliveries into Gaza are still limited, despite Israel easing a blockade in the face of criticism.
Gaza's population of more than 2 million people relies almost entirely on outside aid to survive because Israel's military offensive wiped out most capacity to produce food inside the territory.
Most read in The Sun
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Gaza is the 'hungriest place on Earth, with the whole region at risk of famine
Credit: Getty
Shocking moment thousands of Gazans overrun US-backed aid site as 'shots fired'
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RTÉ News
7 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Gaza aid: What is getting in and who is distributing it?
In recent days, videos and images showing people in Gaza desperately trying to access food and other humanitarian aid have been circulating across social media. On Wednesday the UN's World Food Programme said two people had been killed after "hordes of hungry people" broke into one of their warehouses in central Gaza, in search of food. They said humanitarian needs had "spiraled out of control after 80 days of complete blockade" of aid into Gaza. The previous day, footage showed a militarised aid compound near the southern town of Rafah being overrun by people trying to access supplies. All this followed controversy around the launch of a US-Israeli backed aid distribution plan which was supposed to ensure aid is dispersed and not stolen by Hamas - as Israel has long claimed happens within the enclave. So what's known about aid the amount of food entering Gaza, and the processes being used to provide it? No aid at all entered Gaza between 2 March and mid-May. On 19 May, Israel began letting a handful of UN aid trucks in. Later that week, several dozen more aid trucks trickled into the enclave. However, the UN and its agencies said it was a "drop in the ocean of what is urgently needed" as children are "being pushed to the brink of starvation". UNRWA has said that between 500-600 trucks per day entered Gaza before 7 October, with food which was needed to meet basic humanitarian needs. The quantity of aid entering Gaza now is vastly insufficient, it says. For its part, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), which is part of the Israeli Ministry of Defence, said that so far in May 760 trucks have entered, all through the Kerem Shalom checkpoint in the south - a point where the border of Gaza, Egypt and Israel all meet. In other words, slightly more aid trucks entered Gaza during all of May than used to enter every day. COGAT, however, says "there is no famine in Gaza," adding that the phrase "facing famine" is misleading. UN agencies said on Thursday that in recent days they have submitted 900 truckloads for Israeli approval - about 800 were cleared and just over 500 were cleared for offloading on the Israeli side of Kerem Shalom. However, they noted, their teams inside Gaza have been able to collect only about 200 due to insecurity and restricted access to the places where the offloaded aid is located. UNRWA noted in a statement that "while letting us bring in some nutrition and medical supplies, as well as flour, Israeli authorities have banned most other items, including fuel, cooking gas, shelter and hygiene products." "They also imposed the condition that we could only deliver flour to bakeries and not directly to families. This required people to face large crowds to collect bread from a limited number of bakeries daily." The amount of aid now allowed to enter Gaza after a two-month blockade on all aid, is still horrifyingly low for many, but the distribution process is a further problem. On Monday, a new plan for aid distribution was launched, run by a US and Israel-backed grouped named Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). That day the organisation issued a statement saying deliveries into Gaza had begun without specifying the number of trucks that entered the enclave. Questions and controversy surrounds the GHF, which publicly launched earlier this year and is reportedly run by a group of American security contractors, ex-military officers, and individuals who worked in humanitarian aid. It appears to have been set up to bypass the typical process of aid distribution done through the UN. Israel claims that the UN and its partners' aid is being diverted by Hamas, a claim the UN has said "doesn't hold up to scrutiny." The UN and other international humanitarian groups have refused to work with the GHF saying the distribution hubs risk forcibly displacing Palestinians seeking aid. Three of the GHF distribution centres are in southern Gaza - in areas the Israeli military has encouraged people to move to - there are currently none in Northern Gaza. In a joint statement in recent days, 11 independent humanitarian organisations said the distribution programme was a "project led by politically-connected western security and military figures, coordinated in tandem with the Israeli government, and launched while the people of Gaza remain under total siege." UNRWA for its part said on Thursday "We will not participate in any scheme that undermines neutrality, impartiality, or independence. Aid must not be weaponised." Days before the distribution plan was launched, the GHF's CEO Jake Wood - a former US Marine - announced his resignation citing ethical concerns over the distribution system. "It is clear that it is not possible to implement this plan while also strictly adhering to the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence, which I will not abandon," he said in a statement. Safe Reach Solutions (SRS), a private US security contractor, is reportedly guarding the distribution hubs inside Gaza. Israeli investigative outlet Shomrim obtained internal documents allegedly showing that SRS will be conducting intelligence operations aimed at furthering Israeli military objectives. SRS is supposed to process visual data, which it will then use to identify Hamas operatives and other armed individuals, the outlet reported. The Israeli military released a video showing one of a distribution centre in Tel Sultan, west of Rafah. In the videos, rows of fences have been erected, with gates, near the where the aid looks to be set up. At one of these centres on Tuesday, crowds of people came to get aid. A fence erected by the GHF, and the military contractors working for them, began to sag under the weight of the crowd. It soon collapsed and chaos ensued, as people rushed, panicked, to find aid parcels. The UN human rights office, OHCHR, said that it had received information that at least 47 people had been injured. Israel says its troops nearby fired warning shots. Asked about the scenes at the distribution locations on Tuesday, the US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said "approximately 8,000 food boxes have been distributed so far. Each box feeds 5.5 people for three and a half days, totaling 462,000 meals." Crowds descend on aid distribution point near Rafah. Video: EBU via @yousef_alyan_8 On the shots fired that day, she said "The bottom line is the real story here is that the aid is moving through. And in that kind of an environment it's not surprising that there might be a few issues involved, but the good news is, is that those seeking to get aid to the people of Gaza, which is not Hamas, have succeeded." Commenting on GHF and incidents at the distribution location, Jonathan Whittall, the UN's Head of Humanitarian Affairs for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said the new aid programme promotes "engineered scarcity." He added that it was: "A system where those Palestinians who can reach militarised distribution hubs may receive rations… Knowingly designing a plan that falls short of minimum obligations under international law is essentially an admission of guilt." "Nowhere is safe. People are being starved and then drip-fed in the most undignified way possible," he added.
The Irish Sun
18 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Lottery results and numbers: Lotto and Thunderball draw tonight, May 31, 2025
THE NATIONAL Lottery results are in and it's time to find out who has won a life-changing amount of money tonight ( May 31, 2025). Could tonight's jackpot see you handing in your notice, jetting off to the Bahamas or driving a new Porsche off a garage forecourt? 3 Could you win big tonight with the National Lottery? 3 Previous winners have gone on to build mansions and buy islands You can find out by checking your ticket against tonight's numbers below. Good luck! Tonight's National Lottery Lotto winning numbers are: 08, 11, 12, 16, 20, 33 and the Bonus Ball is 52 . Tonight's estimated jackpot is £3.9 million. Tonight's National Lottery Thunderball winning numbers are: 03, 05, 13, 18, 26 and the Thunderball is 02 . READ MORE ON LOTTO The first National Lottery draw was held on November 19 1994 when seven winners shared a jackpot of £5,874,778. The largest amount ever to be won by a single ticket holder was £42million, won in 1996. Gareth Bull, a 49-year-old builder, won £41million in November, 2020 and ended up knocking down his bungalow to make way for a luxury manor house with a pool. TOP 5 BIGGEST LOTTERY WINS ACROSS THE WORLD £1.308 billion (Powerball) on January 13 2016 in the US, for which three winning tickets were sold, remains history's biggest lottery prize £1.267 billion (Mega Million) a winner from South Carolina took their time to come forward to claim their prize in March 2019 not long before the April deadline £633.76 million (Powerball draw) from a winner from Wisconsin £625.76 million (Powerball) Mavis L. Wanczyk of Chicopee, Massachusetts claimed the jackpot in August 2017 £575.53 million (Powerball) A lucky pair of winners scooped the jackpot in Iowa and New York in October 2018 Sue Davies, 64, bought a lottery ticket to celebrate ending five months of shielding during the pandemic — and won £500,000. Most read in The Sun The biggest jackpot ever to be up for grabs was £66million in January last year, which was won by two lucky ticket holders. Another winner, Karl managed to bag £11million aged just 23 in 1996. The odds of winning the lottery are estimated to be about one in 14million - BUT you've got to be in it to win it. 3 Sandra Devine and her husband Mike won by chance - can you too?
The Journal
20 hours ago
- The Journal
Palestinians block and empty dozens of UN food lorries in Gaza Strip following Israeli blockade
PALESTINIANS IN THE Gaza Strip blocked and emptied dozens of lorries, the UN World Food Programme said, as desperation mounts following Israel's months-long blockade and air strikes. The WFP said that 77 trucks carrying aid, mostly flour, were stopped by hungry people who took the food before the vehicles were able to reach their destination. A nearly three-month Israeli blockade on Gaza has pushed the population to the brink of famine. While the pressure slightly eased in recent days as Israel allowed some aid to enter, organisations said there still is not nearly enough food getting in. Hamas said on Saturday that it had responded to a US proposal for a temporary ceasefire, which Israeli officials have approved, but details of the response were not immediately known. US President Donald Trump said negotiators were nearing a deal. A ceasefire would pause the fighting for 60 days, release some of the 58 hostages still held in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and much-needed food aid and other assistance, according to Hamas and Egyptian officials. The WFP said the fear of starvation in Gaza is high despite the food aid that is entering now. 'We need to flood communities with food for the next few days to calm anxieties and rebuild the trust with communities that more food is coming,' said agency said in a statement, adding that it has more than 140,000 metric tons of food — enough to feed Gazans for two months — ready to be brought in. A witness in the southern city of Khan Younis told The Associated Press that the UN convoy was stopped at a makeshift roadblock and unloaded by thousands of desperate civilians. Most people carried bags of flour on their backs or heads. He said at one point a forklift was used to offload pallets from the stranded trucks. Advertisement Palestinian women get food at a food distribution kitchen in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip yesterday. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo The United Nations said earlier this month that Israeli authorities have forced them to use unsecured routes within areas controlled by the Israeli military in the eastern areas of Rafah and Khan Younis, where armed gangs are active. An internal document shared with aid groups about security incidents, seen by the AP, said there were four incidents of facilities being looted in three days at the end of May, not including the convoy on Saturday. The UN said it been unable to get enough aid in because of fighting. On Friday, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said it only picked up five truckloads of cargo from the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom crossing, and the other 60 trucks had to return due to intense hostilities. A new US and Israeli-backed foundation started operations in Gaza this week, distributing food at several sites in a chaotic rollout. Israel says the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation will eventually replace the aid operation that the UN and others have carried out during nearly 20 months of war. It says the new mechanism is necessary, accusing Hamas of siphoning off large amounts of aid. The UN denies that significant diversion takes place. The GHF works with armed contractors, which it says are needed to distribute food safely. Aid groups have accused the foundation of militarising aid. Meanwhile, Israel is continuing its military campaign across Gaza. The Gaza Health Ministry said that at least 60 people were killed by Israeli strikes in the last 24 hours. The ministry said three people were killed by Israeli gunfire early Saturday in Rafah; three others were killed — parents and a child — when their car was struck in Gaza City; an Israeli strike hit another car in Gaza City, killing four; and an Israeli strike hit a tent sheltering displaced people in Khan Younis, killing six, said Weam Fares, a spokesperson for Nasser Hospital. On 7 October 2023, Hamas attacked Israel, killing around 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and taking 250 hostages. Of those taken captive, 58 remain in Gaza but Israel believes 35 are dead and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said there are 'doubts' about the fate of several others. Israeli strikes have killed more than 54,000 Gaza residents, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
