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Yahoo
5 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
What we know about killings near US-Israeli backed Gaza aid site
Over the past three days, there have been a series of deadly incidents on the route to an aid distribution site in Gaza run by a controversial group backed by the US and Israel. The three incidents took place on roads approaching one of the new sites in the extreme south-west of Gaza, which is under full Israeli military control. The facility is being operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). The first incident took place early on Sunday morning when 31 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire, according to the Hamas-run Civil Defence agency. Another three people were killed by gunfire on Monday morning, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Meanwhile, a further 27 people were killed by Israeli fire near the site on Tuesday morning, according to health officials. Israel has denounced what it called "false reports" that its troops fired on civilians at or near the sites. It said that some soldiers fired warning shots on Sunday 1km away, and that they also opened fire after identifying "several suspects" on Monday and Tuesday. Very few videos have emerged from Gaza that show the incidents themselves, but BBC Verify has examined available footage and attempted to map how they unfolded. All three are reported to have taken place near an aid distribution centre in the south-west of Gaza, in the Tal al-Sultan area. The site, named Safe Distribution Site 1 (SDS 1) by the GHF, opened on the 26 May. It is one of four such facilities, three of which are based in southern Gaza. The facilities are part of a new aid system - widely condemned by humanitarian groups - aiming to bypass the UN, which Israel has accused of failing to prevent Hamas diverting aid to its fighters. The UN says that has not been a big problem and that the GHF's system is unworkable and unethical. However, only SDS 1 has been open and operational since Friday, according to official GHF posts online. It follows a chaotic opening week which saw the site overrun by desperate civilians, and projectiles being thrown towards Gazans at another facility at the GHF's northern site near Nuseirat on Thursday. A spokesperson for the foundation did not respond to messages asking why the other facilities have been closed for several days. The GHF has also encouraged civilians to follow a set route when approaching SDS 1, directing them along a coastal road called al-Rashid Street. The instructions have been issued on the foundation's official Facebook page. Chris Newton, a senior analyst at the Brussels-based think tank Crisis Group, said the route was neither "safe nor effective". He added that directing civilians down a single route towards the site was "a very far cry from what was possible" under the UN-based system, which saw 400 distribution points scattered across the strip. "This all looks designed to fail," he said of the new aid system. According to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, some 31 people were killed by gunfire on Sunday. The GHF posted on its official Facebook page early on Sunday, telling civilians that SDS 1 would be open from 05:00 local time. However, just an hour later it posted again saying that the site was closed. By this time many Gazans had gathered at the Al-Alam roundabout as they waited to be granted access to the site, Mohammed Ghareeb, a journalist based in Rafah, told the BBC. We have seen a limited amount of video that is claimed to relate to the shootings. In one video filmed on the route to the aid site, purportedly on Sunday, people lie on the ground and an explosion is heard. There is a "realistic possibility" this blast sound was a battle tank firing its main armament, says David Heathcote, an intelligence manager with security analysts McKenzie Intelligence, but he adds that "there could be other explanations". Another expert we spoke to said the source of the sound was unclear. An audio recording provided to the BBC by international staff at the UK-Med field hospital about 3km away from the site captured two apparent explosions and protracted gunfire for over five minutes. Video footage posted at 06:08 showed dozens of people lying prone on sand, with automatic gunfire audible. BBC Verify could not definitively geolocate the footage. Another clip reviewed by BBC Verify, which claimed to be from the aftermath of the incident, showed a number of bodies lying on a beach on Gaza's coast. As the video progresses, several of the bodies were covered by white bags. One of those lying on the beach appeared to be a young woman. We cannot definitively geolocate the footage. However, lights seen in the distance suggest that the footage may have been filmed in an area about 1km from SDS 1. Images - provided to the BBC by doctors - of bullets recovered from those killed and wounded in the incidents showed that both 5.56mm and 7.62mm rounds were used. But Benedict Manzin - an analyst with the risk consultancy Sibylline - said that the source of the rounds was unclear, noting that both the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Palestinian armed groups "will have access to weapons that fire 5.56mm and 7.62mm rounds". The IDF denied its troops fired at civilians "near or within" the site and said reports to this effect were false. But an Israeli military source later said warning shots were fired approximately 1km (0.6 miles) away from the site "to prevent suspects from approaching the troops". The GHF said in a statement: "There were no injuries, fatalities or incidents during our operations yesterday. Period. We have yet to see any evidence that there was an attack at or near our facility." On Monday, three people were killed while waiting for food near SDS 1, according to the ICRC. The Israeli military said "warning shots were fired toward several suspects who advanced toward" troops approximately 1km from the site. The Gaza health ministry said at least 27 people were then killed when Israeli forces opened fire near SDS 1 early on Tuesday. Very little footage has emerged purporting to show the moment of the shooting. But one clip posted online showed people running with gunfire audible. BBC Verify geolocated the footage to a road near SDS 1 and established it was newly published on Tuesday although we cannot say for certain it relates to Tuesday's incident. Killings near Gaza aid centre will deepen criticism of Israel's new distribution system How controversial US-Israeli backed Gaza aid plan turned to chaos Gaza aid trucks rushed by desperate and hungry crowds, WFP says Mahmoud Basal, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Civil Defence agency, told the BBC that the incident again occurred a few hundred metres away from the Al-Alam roundabout. He said most of those killed or injured "were hit by gunfire from tanks, helicopters and quadcopter drones". Yasser Abu Lubda, a 50-year-old who has been displaced from Rafah, told the Associated Press (AP) news agency that the shooting began shortly before 04:00 local time. Rasha al-Nahal, another witness, told AP "there was gunfire from all directions". And the ICRC said in a statement that its field hospital in Rafah received "a mass casualty influx of 184 patients". "This includes nineteen cases who were declared dead upon arrival and eight more who died due to their wounds shortly after. The majority of cases suffered gunshot wounds." In a statement, the IDF said approximately 0.5km from the aid distribution site "several suspects" moved towards them. It said troops shot warning fire and when "suspects failed to retreat, additional shots were directed near a few individual suspects". It said it was looking into reports of casualties. Responding to Tuesday's incident, the GHF said: "While the aid distribution was conducted safely and without incident at our site today, we understand that IDF is investigating whether a number of civilians were injured after moving beyond the designated safe corridor and into a closed military zone. This was an area well beyond our secure distribution site and operations area." BBC Verify will continue to investigate footage surrounding each of the three incidents. Reporting and verification by Matt Murphy, Mohamed Shalaby, Emma Pengelly, Kay Devlin, Benedict Garman, Joshua Cheetham and Alex Murray. Update: This piece was amended to reflect expert analysis of a blast sound heard in a video. What do you want BBC Verify to investigate? How controversial US-Israeli backed Gaza aid plan turned to chaos At least 27 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire near aid centre, Gaza authorities say UN calls for investigation into killings near Gaza aid distribution site
The Hindu
13-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Food security experts warn Gaza is at critical risk of famine if Israel doesn't end its blockade
The Gaza Strip will likely fall into famine if Israel doesn't lift its blockade and stop its military campaign, food security experts said in a stark warning on Monday (May 12, 2025). Nearly half a million Palestinians are facing possible starvation, living in 'catastrophic' levels of hunger, and 1 million others can barely get enough food, according to findings by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a leading international authority on the severity of hunger crises. The group said 'there is a high risk' of outright famine if circumstances don't change. Israel has banned all food, shelter, medicine and any other goods from entering the Palestinian territory for the past 10 weeks, even as it carries out waves of airstrikes and ground operations. Gaza's population of around 2.3 million people relies almost entirely on outside aid to survive, because Israel's 19-month-old military campaign has wiped away most capacity to produce food inside the territory. Israel's Foreign Ministry rejected the findings, saying the IPC's previous forecasts had proven unfounded and that the group undercounted the amount of aid that entered Gaza during a ceasefire earlier this year. Food supplies are emptying out dramatically. Communal kitchens handing out cooked meals are virtually the only remaining source of food for most people in Gaza now, but they too are rapidly shutting down for lack of stocks. Thousands of Palestinians crowd daily outside the public kitchens, pushing and jostling with their pots to receive lentils or pasta. 'We end up waiting in line for four, five hours, in the sun. It is exhausting,' said Riham Sheikh el-Eid, waiting at a kitchen in the southern city of Khan Younis on Sunday (May 11, 2025). 'At the end, we walk away with nothing. It is not enough for everybody.' 'Israel is starving Gaza in an attempt to destroy Hamas' 'The lack of a famine declaration doesn't mean people aren't already starving, and a declaration shouldn't be a precondition for ending the suffering,' said Chris Newton, an analyst for the International Crisis Group focusing on starvation as a weapon of war. 'The Israeli government is starving Gaza as part of its attempt to destroy Hamas and transform the strip,' he said. The Israeli military says enough aid entered Gaza during a two-month ceasefire that Israel shattered in mid-March when it relaunched its military campaign. Israel says the blockade aims to pressure Hamas to release the hostages it still holds. It says it won't let aid back in until a new system giving it control over distribution is in place, accusing Hamas of siphoning off supplies. 'Entire population of Gaza facing high levels of hunger' Monday's (May 12, 2025) report said that 'any slight gains made during the ceasefire have been reversed. Nearly the entire population of Gaza now faces high levels of hunger,' it said, 'driven by conflict, the collapse of infrastructure, destruction of agriculture, and blockades of aid'. Mahmoud Alsaqqa, food security and livelihoods coordinator for Oxfam, called on governments to press Israel to allow 'unimpeded humanitarian access.' 'Silence in the face of this man-made starvation is complicity,' he said. Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas after the group's Oct. 7, 2023, surprise attack on Israel, in which militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostage, most of whom have been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Israel's offensive has killed over 52,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, whose count does not distinguish between civilians or combatants. How is famine declared? The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, first set up in 2004 during the famine in Somalia, groups more than a dozen U.N. agencies, aid groups, governments and other bodies. It has only declared famine a few times — in Somalia in 2011, and South Sudan in 2017 and 2020, and last year in parts of Sudan's western Darfur region. It rates an area as in famine when at least two of three things occur: 20% of households have an extreme lack of food, or are essentially starving; at least 30% of children six months to five years suffer from acute malnutrition or wasting, meaning they're too thin for their height; and at least two people or four children under five per every 10,000 are dying daily due to starvation or the interaction of malnutrition and disease. 'Catastrophic' hunger in Gaza The assessment on Monday (May 12, 2025) found that the first threshold was met in Gaza, saying 477,000 people — or 22% of the population — are classified as in 'catastrophic' hunger, the highest level, for the period from May 11 to the end of September. It said more than 1 million people are at 'emergency' levels of hunger, the second highest level, meaning they have 'very high gaps" in food and high acute malnutrition. The other thresholds were not met. The data was gathered in April and up to May 6. Food security experts say it takes time for people to start dying from starvation. The report said if the blockade and military campaign continues, 'the vast majority' in Gaza will not have access to food or water, civil unrest will worsen, health services will 'fully collapse,' disease will spread, and levels of malnutrition and death will cross the thresholds into famine. It had also warned of 'imminent' famine in northern Gaza in March 2024, but the following month, Israel allowed an influx of aid under U.S. pressure after an Israeli strike killed seven aid workers. Aid groups now say the situation is the most dire of the entire war. The U.N. humanitarian office, known as OCHA (United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs), said Friday (May 9, 2025) that the number of children seeking treatment at clinics for malnutrition has doubled since February, even as supplies to treat them are quickly running out. Aid groups have shut down food distribution for lack of stocks. Many foods have disappeared from the markets and what's left has spiraled in price and is unaffordable to most. Farmland is mostly destroyed or inaccessible. Water distribution is grinding to a halt, largely because of lack of fuel. Beth Bechdol, deputy director of the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization, said 'more than 75% of Gaza's farmland had been damaged or destroyed, and two-thirds of the wells used for irrigation were no longer operating'. The destruction, she said, is 'driving these large numbers of people closer towards the famine numbers that we think are possible.'
India Today
12-05-2025
- Politics
- India Today
Gaza at risk of famine if Israel doesn't end its blockade, food experts warn
The Gaza Strip will likely fall into famine if Israel doesn't lift its blockade and stop its military campaign, food security experts said in a stark warning on half a million Palestinians are facing possible starvation, living in 'catastrophic' levels of hunger, and 1 million others can barely get enough food, according to findings by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a leading international authority on the severity of hunger group said 'there is a high risk' of outright famine if circumstances don't change. Israel has banned all food, shelter, medicine and any other goods from entering the Palestinian territory for the past 10 weeks, even as it carries out waves of airstrikes and ground operations. Gaza's population of around 2.3 million people relies almost entirely on outside aid to survive, because Israel's 19-month-old military campaign has wiped away most capacity to produce food inside the IS RUNNING OUTFood supplies are emptying out dramatically. Communal kitchens handing out cooked meals are virtually the only remaining source of food for most people in Gaza now, but they too are rapidly shutting down for lack of of Palestinians crowd daily outside the public kitchens, pushing and jostling with their pots to receive lentils or end up waiting in line for four, five hours, in the sun. It is exhausting,' said Riham Sheikh el-Eid, waiting at a kitchen in the southern city of Khan Younis on Sunday. "At the end, we walk away with nothing. It is not enough for everybody".The lack of a famine declaration doesn't mean people aren't already starving, and a declaration shouldn't be a precondition for ending the suffering, said Chris Newton, an analyst for the International Crisis Group focusing on starvation as a weapon of war.'The Israeli government is starving Gaza as part of its attempt to destroy Hamas and transform the strip,' he DEMANDS NEW AID SYSTEMThe office of Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, did not respond to a request for comment. The army has said that enough assistance entered Gaza during a two-month ceasefire that Israel shattered in mid-March when it relaunched its military says the blockade aims to pressure Hamas to release the hostages it still holds. It says it won't let aid back in until a new system giving it control over distribution is in place, accusing Hamas of siphoning off supplies. The United States says it is working up a new mechanism that will start deliveries soon, but it has given no United Nations has so far refused to participate. It denies substantial diversion of aid is taking place and says the new system is unnecessary, will not meet the massive needs of Palestinians and will allow aid to be used as a weapon for political and military report said that any slight gains made during the ceasefire have been reversed. Nearly the entire population of Gaza now faces high levels of hunger, it said, driven by conflict, the collapse of infrastructure, destruction of agriculture, and blockades of Alsaqqa, food security and livelihoods coordinator for Oxfam, called on governments to press Israel to allow 'unimpeded humanitarian access.''Silence in the face of this manmade starvation is complicity,' he has vowed to destroy Hamas after the group's Oct. 7, 2023, surprise attack on Israel, in which militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostage, most of whom have been released in ceasefire agreements or other offensive has killed over 52,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, whose count does not distinguish between civilians or CRITERIA FOR DECLARING FAMINEThe Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, first set up in 2004 during the famine in Somalia, groups more than a dozen UN agencies, aid groups, governments and other has only declared famine a few times — in Somalia in 2011, and South Sudan in 2017 and 2020, and last year in parts of Sudan's western Darfur region. Tens of thousands are believed to have died in Somalia and South rates an area as in famine when at least two of three things occur: 20% of households have an extreme lack of food, or are essentially starving; at least 30% of children six months to five years suffer from acute malnutrition or wasting, meaning they're too thin for their height; and at least two people or four children under five per every 10,000 are dying daily due to starvation or the interaction of malnutrition and assessment on Monday found that the first threshold was met in Gaza, saying 477,000 people — or 22% of the population — are classified as in 'catastrophic' hunger, the highest level, for the period from May 11 to the end of said more than 1 million people are at 'emergency' levels of hunger, the second highest level, meaning they have 'very high gaps' in food and high acute other thresholds were not met. The data was gathered in April and up to May 6. Food security experts say it takes time for people to start dying from report said if the blockade and military campaign continues, 'the vast majority' in Gaza will not have access to food or water, civil unrest will worsen, health services will 'fully collapse,' disease will spread, and levels of malnutrition and death will cross the thresholds into had also warned of 'imminent' famine in northern Gaza in March 2024, but the following month, Israel allowed an influx of aid under US pressure after an Israeli strike killed seven aid groups now say the situation is the most dire of the entire war. The UN humanitarian office, known as OCHA, said Friday that the number of children seeking treatment at clinics for malnutrition has doubled since February, even as supplies to treat them are quickly running groups have shut down food distribution for lack of stocks. Many foods have disappeared from the markets and what's left has spiraled in price and is unaffordable to most. Farmland is mostly destroyed or inaccessible. Water distribution is grinding to a halt, largely because of lack of Bechdol, deputy director of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, said more than 75% of Gaza's farmland had been damaged or destroyed, and two-thirds of the wells used for irrigation were no longer destruction, she said, is "driving these large numbers of people closer towards the famine numbers that we think are possible".Must Watch
Time of India
12-05-2025
- General
- Time of India
Food security experts warn Gaza is at critical risk of famine if Israel doesn't end its blockade
The Strip will likely fall into famine if doesn't lift its blockade and stop its military campaign, food security experts said in a stark warning on Monday. Nearly half a million Palestinians are facing possible starvation, living in "catastrophic" levels of hunger, and 1 million others can barely get enough food, according to findings by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a leading international authority on the severity of hunger crises. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The group said "there is a high risk" of outright famine if circumstances don't change. Israel has banned all food, shelter, medicine and any other goods from entering the Palestinian territory for the past 10 weeks, even as it carries out waves of airstrikes and ground operations. Gaza's population of around 2.3 million people relies almost entirely on outside aid to survive, because Israel's 19-month-old military campaign has wiped away most capacity to produce food inside the territory. Desperate scenes as food is running out food supplies are emptying out dramatically. Communal kitchens handing out cooked meals are virtually the only remaining source of food for most people in Gaza now, but they too are rapidly shutting down for lack of stocks. Thousands of Palestinians crowd daily outside the public kitchens, pushing and jostling with their pots to receive lentils or pasta. "We end up waiting in line for four, five hours, in the sun. It is exhausting," said el-Eid, waiting at a kitchen in the southern city of Khan Younis on Sunday. "At the end, we walk away with nothing. It is not enough for everybody." The lack of a famine declaration doesn't mean people aren't already starving, and a declaration shouldn't be a precondition for ending the suffering, said Chris Newton, an analyst for the international crisis group focusing on starvation as a weapon of war. "The Israeli government is starving Gaza as part of its attempt to destroy Hamas and transform the strip," he said. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Israel demands a new aid system the office of Israeli prime minister, did not respond to a request for comment. The army has said that enough assistance entered Gaza during a two-month ceasefire that Israel shattered in mid-March when it relaunched its military campaign. Israel says the blockade aims to pressure Hamas to release the hostages it still holds. It says it won't let aid back in until a new system giving it control over distribution is in place, accusing Hamas of siphoning off supplies. The United States says it is working up a new mechanism that will start deliveries soon, but it has given no timeframe. The United Nations has so far refused to participate. It denies substantial diversion of aid is taking place and says the new system is unnecessary, will not meet the massive needs of Palestinians and will allow aid to be used as a weapon for political and military goals. Monday's report said that any slight gains made during the ceasefire have been reversed. Nearly the entire population of Gaza now faces high levels of hunger, it said, driven by conflict, the collapse of infrastructure, destruction of agriculture, and blockades of aid. , food security and livelihoods coordinator for , called on governments to press Israel to allow "unimpeded humanitarian access." "Silence in the face of this manmade starvation is complicity," he said. Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas after the group's Oct 7, 2023, surprise attack on Israel, in which militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostage, most of whom have been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Israel's offensive has killed over 52,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, whose count does not distinguish between civilians or combatants. Three criteria for declaring famine the integrated food security phase classification, first set up in 2004 during the famine in Somalia, groups more than a dozen UN agencies, aid groups, governments and other bodies. It has only declared famine a few times - in Somalia in 2011, and South Sudan in 2017 and 2020, and last year in parts of Sudan's western Darfur region. Tens of thousands are believed to have died in Somalia and South Sudan. It rates an area as in famine when at least two of three things occur: 20% of households have an extreme lack of food, or are essentially starving; at least 30% of children six months to five years suffer from acute malnutrition or wasting, meaning they're too thin for their height; and at least two people or four children under five per every 10,000 are dying daily due to starvation or the interaction of malnutrition and disease. The assessment on Monday found that the first threshold was met in Gaza, saying 477,000 people or 22% of the population are classified as in "catastrophic" hunger, the highest level, for the period from May 11 to the end of September. It said more than 1 million people are at "emergency" levels of hunger, the second highest level, meaning they have "very high gaps" in food and high acute malnutrition. The other thresholds were not met. The data was gathered in April and up to May 6. Food security experts say it takes time for people to start dying from starvation. The report said if the blockade and military campaign continues, "the vast majority" in Gaza will not have access to food or water, civil unrest will worsen, health services will "fully collapse," disease will spread, and levels of malnutrition and death will cross the thresholds into famine. It had also warned of "imminent" famine in northern Gaza in March 2024, but the following month, Israel allowed an influx of aid under after an Israeli strike killed seven aid workers. Aid groups now say the situation is the most dire of the entire war. The UN humanitarian office, known as OCHA, said Friday that the number of children seeking treatment at clinics for malnutrition has doubled since February, even as supplies to treat them are quickly running out. Aid groups have shut down food distribution for lack of stocks. Many foods have disappeared from the markets and what's left has spiraled in price and is unaffordable to most. Farmland is mostly destroyed or inaccessible. Water distribution is grinding to a halt, largely because of lack of fuel. Beth Bechdol, deputy director of the UN's food and agriculture organization, said more than 75% of Gaza's farmland had been damaged or destroyed, and two-thirds of the wells used for irrigation were no longer operating. The destruction, she said, is "driving these large numbers of people closer towards the famine numbers that we think are possible."
Time of India
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Food security experts warn Gaza is at critical risk of famine if Israel doesn't end its blockade
Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads The Gaza Strip will likely fall into famine if Israel doesn't lift its blockade and stop its military campaign, food security experts said in a stark warning on half a million Palestinians are facing possible starvation, living in "catastrophic" levels of hunger, and 1 million others can barely get enough food, according to findings by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a leading international authority on the severity of hunger group said "there is a high risk" of outright famine if circumstances don't has banned all food, shelter, medicine and any other goods from entering the Palestinian territory for the past 10 weeks, even as it carries out waves of airstrikes and ground operations. Gaza's population of around 2.3 million people relies almost entirely on outside aid to survive, because Israel's 19-month-old military campaign has wiped away most capacity to produce food inside the scenes as food is running out Food supplies are emptying out dramatically. Communal kitchens handing out cooked meals are virtually the only remaining source of food for most people in Gaza now, but they too are rapidly shutting down for lack of of Palestinians crowd daily outside the public kitchens, pushing and jostling with their pots to receive lentils or pasta."We end up waiting in line for four, five hours, in the sun. It is exhausting," said Riham Sheikh el-Eid, waiting at a kitchen in the southern city of Khan Younis on Sunday. "At the end, we walk away with nothing. It is not enough for everybody."The lack of a famine declaration doesn't mean people aren't already starving, and a declaration shouldn't be a precondition for ending the suffering, said Chris Newton, an analyst for the International Crisis Group focusing on starvation as a weapon of war."The Israeli government is starving Gaza as part of its attempt to destroy Hamas and transform the strip," he demands a new aid system The office of Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, did not respond to a request for comment. The army has said that enough assistance entered Gaza during a two-month ceasefire that Israel shattered in mid-March when it relaunched its military says the blockade aims to pressure Hamas to release the hostages it still holds. It says it won't let aid back in until a new system giving it control over distribution is in place, accusing Hamas of siphoning off supplies. The United States says it is working up a new mechanism that will start deliveries soon, but it has given no United Nations has so far refused to participate. It denies substantial diversion of aid is taking place and says the new system is unnecessary, will not meet the massive needs of Palestinians and will allow aid to be used as a weapon for political and military report said that any slight gains made during the ceasefire have been reversed. Nearly the entire population of Gaza now faces high levels of hunger, it said, driven by conflict, the collapse of infrastructure, destruction of agriculture, and blockades of aid. Mahmoud Alsaqqa , food security and livelihoods coordinator for Oxfam , called on governments to press Israel to allow "unimpeded humanitarian access.""Silence in the face of this manmade starvation is complicity," he has vowed to destroy Hamas after the group's Oct. 7, 2023, surprise attack on Israel, in which militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostage, most of whom have been released in ceasefire agreements or other offensive has killed over 52,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, whose count does not distinguish between civilians or criteria for declaring famine The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, first set up in 2004 during the famine in Somalia, groups more than a dozen U.N. agencies, aid groups, governments and other has only declared famine a few times - in Somalia in 2011, and South Sudan in 2017 and 2020, and last year in parts of Sudan's western Darfur region. Tens of thousands are believed to have died in Somalia and South rates an area as in famine when at least two of three things occur: 20% of households have an extreme lack of food, or are essentially starving; at least 30% of children six months to five years suffer from acute malnutrition or wasting, meaning they're too thin for their height; and at least two people or four children under five per every 10,000 are dying daily due to starvation or the interaction of malnutrition and assessment on Monday found that the first threshold was met in Gaza, saying 477,000 people - or 22% of the population - are classified as in "catastrophic" hunger, the highest level, for the period from May 11 to the end of said more than 1 million people are at "emergency" levels of hunger, the second highest level, meaning they have "very high gaps" in food and high acute other thresholds were not met. The data was gathered in April and up to May 6. Food security experts say it takes time for people to start dying from report said if the blockade and military campaign continues, "the vast majority" in Gaza will not have access to food or water, civil unrest will worsen, health services will "fully collapse," disease will spread, and levels of malnutrition and death will cross the thresholds into had also warned of "imminent" famine in northern Gaza in March 2024, but the following month, Israel allowed an influx of aid under U.S. pressure after an Israeli strike killed seven aid groups now say the situation is the most dire of the entire war. The U.N. humanitarian office, known as OCHA, said Friday that the number of children seeking treatment at clinics for malnutrition has doubled since February, even as supplies to treat them are quickly running groups have shut down food distribution for lack of stocks. Many foods have disappeared from the markets and what's left has spiraled in price and is unaffordable to most. Farmland is mostly destroyed or inaccessible. Water distribution is grinding to a halt, largely because of lack of Bechdol, deputy director of the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization, said more than 75% of Gaza's farmland had been damaged or destroyed, and two-thirds of the wells used for irrigation were no longer destruction, she said, is "driving these large numbers of people closer towards the famine numbers that we think are possible."
