Latest news with #Lazzarini
Scoop
40 minutes ago
- Health
- Scoop
‘Famine Silently Begins To Unfold' In Gaza, UNRWA Chief Says
24 July 2025 Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), said that is what one of its workers told him on Thursday morning. This sobering comment comes amidst increasingly severe malnutrition for children and adults throughout the Gaza Strip. 'When child malnutrition surges, coping mechanisms fail, access to food and care disappears, famine silently begins to unfold,' Mr. Lazzarini said in a tweet. Bombs are not the only thing that kills Gaza has faced relentless bombardment for almost three years, but Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), said at a briefing on Wednesday that it is not just the bombs which are killing Palestinians. Starvation is 'another killer'. Reportedly at least 100 people have died from hunger, and WHO has documented at least 21 cases of children under the age of five dying from malnutrition. Additionally, Mr. Lazzarini said one in five children in Gaza City is malnourished, a number increasing every day that unhindered humanitarian aid is denied. He said these children urgently need treatment, but supplies remain low. Between early March and mid-May – 80 consecutive days – no aid was allowed into the Gaza Strip, pushing the population to the brink of famine. While minimal aid has since entered, Tedros emphasised that it is not enough. 'Food deliveries have resumed intermittently, but remain far below what is needed for the survival of the population,' he said. Safe havens are no longer safe Tedros reported that between 27 May and 21 July, over 1,000 people in Gaza have been killed while trying to access food. Many of these have died in or around sites operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an American-run and Israeli-backed aid distribution organization which the UN has repeatedly said violates well-established principles of international humanitarian law. 'Parents tell us their children cry themselves to sleep from hunger. Food distribution sites have become places of violence,' Tedros said. In addition to risking their lives when seeking out desperately needed humanitarian assistance, hospitals – which have been systematically targeted, according to UNFPA – are no longer safe havens. 'Hospitals, which are supposed to be safe havens, have regularly been attacked, and many are no longer functioning,' Tedros said. He recalled that on Monday, a WHO staff residence, a humanitarian site, was attacked, with male personnel being stripped and interrogated, women and children forced to flee on foot in the midst of violence and one WHO staff member detained. 'Despite this, WHO and other UN agencies are staying in Gaza. Our commitment is firm. UN agencies must be protected while operating in conflict zones,' Tedros said. Frontline workers face hunger In addition to the Palestinians in Gaza who are 'emaciated, weak and at high risk of dying', aid workers are also feeling the effects of the sustained lack of supplies. Most UNRWA workers are surviving on a meagre bowl of lentils each day, Mr. Lazzarini said, leading many of them to faint from hunger at work. 'When caretakers cannot find enough to eat, the entire humanitarian system is collapsing,' he said. Some parents are too hungry to care for their children, and even those who do reach clinics for treatment are often too tired to follow the advice provided. Mr. Lazzarini noted that UNRWA alone has 6,000 trucks of desperately needed food and medical supplies in Jordan and Egypt. He called for this and other aid to be immediately let through. 'Families are no longer coping. They are breaking down, unable to survive. Their existence is threatened,' he said. 'Allow humanitarian partners to bring unrestricted and uninterrupted humanitarian assistance to Gaza.'
Indian Express
3 hours ago
- Health
- Indian Express
‘People in Gaza are walking corpses': UN warns as famine deepens
The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees has warned that the humanitarian system in Gaza is on the verge of collapse, as starvation grips the besieged enclave and even aid workers begin to faint from hunger. 'People in Gaza are neither dead nor alive, they are walking corpses,' said Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), in a post on X. At least 113 people have died of hunger, including 45 in the past four days. 'This deepening crisis is affecting everyone, including those trying to save lives … When caretakers cannot find enough to eat, the entire humanitarian system is collapsing,' Lazzarini said. UNRWA says it has around 6,000 truckloads of food and medical supplies waiting in Jordan and Egypt, but Israeli restrictions have blocked most aid from entering Gaza. Lazzarini urged Israel to allow 'unrestricted and uninterrupted' humanitarian access. As international pressure mounts, Hamas submitted a revised ceasefire proposal to mediators. An Israeli official reportedly called it 'workable.' Talks are set to continue in Sardinia with officials from the US, Israel, and Qatar. The proposed deal includes a 60-day ceasefire, during which Hamas would release 10 hostages and return the remains of 18 others in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. It also calls for expanded humanitarian access, a restoration of the UN aid system, and discussions on a permanent end to the war. 'People in Gaza are neither dead nor alive, they are walking corpses': a colleague in #Gaza told me this morning. Meanwhile, according to @UNRWA latest findings: one in every five children is malnourished in Gaza City as cases increase every day. When child malnutrition… — Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) July 24, 2025 But despite the progress, Israel continues to bombard central Gaza, killing at least 89 people in the past 24 hours, according to Gaza health officials. Israeli negotiators have returned from Doha for internal consultations, with key sticking points remaining—especially over troop withdrawals and the future of the UN aid distribution system. Since March, Israel has effectively blocked UN-led aid operations, accusing Hamas of diverting supplies—a claim disputed by aid agencies. In its place, Israel allows limited distribution through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a private US firm that operates with a militarised model. The system has been widely condemned, with over 1,000 people reportedly killed while trying to access aid in the past two months. Protests in Tel Aviv have erupted, with demonstrators carrying sacks of flour and photos of starving Palestinian children, demanding an end to the blockade. As the World Health Organisation calls the starvation 'man-made,' pressure grows on Israel's government—externally and internally—to end the crisis before more lives are lost.
Time of India
3 hours ago
- Politics
- Time of India
'Walking corpses' haunt Gaza streets: UN says children dying of starvation, India urges emergency relief
'People Are Neither Dead Nor Alive' Aid Blocked While Supplies Sit Idle Live Events India Calls for Immediate Ceasefire and Humanitarian Access Limited Aid and a Troubled Route (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel The humanitarian crisis in Gaza has hit a breaking point, with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) reporting a heartbreaking surge in deaths due to hunger, most of them children. Describing the conditions on the ground, the UN agency likened the situation to people becoming 'walking corpses,' as basic food, water, and medical supplies continue to be out of reach for most of UNRWA Philippe Lazzarini took to X to share the grim reality, 'People in Gaza are neither dead nor alive, they are walking corpses,' a colleague told me this to Lazzarini, over 100 people have reportedly died of hunger, the vast majority of them children. The agency also warned that one in five children in Gaza City is now malnourished. Many are emaciated and dangerously weak, lacking access to the urgent care they need.'When child malnutrition surges, coping mechanisms fail, access to food & care disappears, famine silently begins to unfold,' he having the equivalent of 6,000 truckloads of food and medical aid ready in Jordan and Egypt, UNRWA says it cannot get the supplies into Gaza due to restrictions.'Allow humanitarian partners to bring unrestricted & uninterrupted humanitarian assistance to Gaza,' Lazzarini has called for an immediate ceasefire and unrestricted delivery of aid. Speaking at the United Nations, Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish stressed that "intermittent pauses" in fighting are not enough.'The people [of Gaza] grapple daily with acute shortages of food and fuel, inadequate medical services, and lack of access to education,' he highlighted that 95% of Gaza's hospitals are either damaged or destroyed, while more than 6.5 lakh children have been without schooling for over 20 stopped all goods from entering Gaza in March, before allowing limited aid deliveries in May through the controversial US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). Aid agencies have criticised the foundation's inefficiency and political oversight, calling for more neutral and widespread humanitarian from TOI
The National
4 hours ago
- Health
- The National
Gazans reduced to 'walking corpses' by food shortages, UNRWA chief says
Gazans have been reduced to "walking corpses" as food shortages push the territory towards starvation, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said on Thursday, after two more people died from malnutrition. The latest deaths brought the toll from starvation to 113, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Conditions inside the enclave have deteriorated sharply amid widespread acute hunger that has shocked the world. More than two million people are facing severe food shortages, with more than 100 NGOs warning that ' mass starvation ' is spreading. Israel has been accused of restricting the flow of aid but says Hamas is looting supplies and blocking distribution. "One in every five children is malnourished in Gaza city as cases increase every day," Mr Lazzarini said, citing UNRWA figures. He quoted a staff member working inside Gaza when he described Palestinians as "neither dead nor alive, they are walking corpses". Most children that UNRWA teams encountered were emaciated, weak and at high risk of dying if they do not receive treatment urgently, he added. Parents were too hungry to care for their children and "families are no longer coping, they are breaking down, unable to survive". He called for unrestricted and uninterrupted humanitarian assistance, saying UNRWA has "the equivalent of 6,000 loaded trucks of food and medical supplies in Jordan and Egypt" waiting to go. The International Rescue Committee said it was "horrified" by the reports of starvation, calling for "full, unfettered humanitarian access". "Lives are hanging by a thread ... This is a man-made hunger crisis driven by severe restrictions and a near-total blockade on aid and goods. It is preventable and it must end," said Scott Lea, the IRC's acting country director in the Palestinian territories. There was no sign of a breakthrough in ceasefire talks as Israel recalled its negotiating team from Qatar. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 's office said that "in light of the response Hamas provided this morning, it has been decided to return the negotiating team to continue consultations in Israel". The European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, said all options remained on the table if Israel does not deliver on an agreement made with the bloc this month to improve conditions. International pressure on Israel to alleviate "unbearable" suffering in Gaza is set to increase at an upcoming conference in New York in support of a Palestinian state, the EU commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Suica has told The National. The EU deal includes a substantial increase in daily aid lorries entering Gaza, the opening of several more crossing points in both the north and south, and the reopening of Jordanian and Egyptian aid routes. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the World Health Organisation, has said Gaza is 'witnessing a deadly surge' in malnutrition and related diseases, and that a 'large proportion' of its roughly two million people are starving. But Israel has denied it is blocking humanitarian aid, claiming that 700 truckloads were on the Gaza side of the border waiting for international organisations to collect and distribute the supplies. Israel also said it has allowed around 4,500 aid trucks into Gaza since lifting a complete blockade in May. The UN responded on Thursday by saying it did not know how many truckloads were awaiting distribution inside the Gaza border because Israel has not granted it access. "Despite our repeated requests, Israel has not allowed the UN to be present at the crossings, which are militarised areas," said Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN humanitarian agency OCHA. "We therefore cannot verify the amount of supplies currently at the crossing," he added. Mr Laerke explained that the UN needed multiple authorisations from Israeli authorities: firstly to get aid across the border from Israel into Gaza, where it is dropped off, then a second permit for those trucks to return to Israel. A third approval was needed to drive more trucks from inside Gaza to the border areas to pick up the aid that was brought in. "It is very important to stress that it is not just about denials of requests to pick up the cargo," he said. "They must provide the green light for trucks without unnecessary delays, allow teams to use multiple, safer routes, and order troops to stay away from the convoys, and never shoot at civilians along the allocated routes - or anywhere else," Mr Laerke added. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the Palestinian people are facing the "greatest humanitarian catastrophe of our time", accusing Israel of a war crime. "How can the world abandon its humanity?" he pleaded. International news agencies AP, Reuters and AFP, as well as the BBC, said their reporters in the enclave were "increasingly unable to feed themselves and their families". They called on Israel to allow journalists freedom of movement in and out of Gaza. With the enclave sealed off, many media groups around the world depend on Palestinian reporters based in Gaza who are working for international news agencies. Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders said this month that more than 200 journalists had been killed in the territory since the war began. Meanwhile, in Israel, the military said eight soldiers were wounded on Thursday when a driver deliberately rammed his car into a bus stop in what police called a "terror attack". The army said two soldiers were "moderately injured" and six "lightly injured" in the attack at the Beit Lid junction near Kfar Yona in central Israel. Police said they located the suspect's vehicle but were still searching for the perpetrator, who abandoned his car in the area. There has been a spate of violence in Israel and the occupied West Bank since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023. The war was sparked when Hamas attacked southern Israeli communities, killing 1,200 people and taking another 250 hostage. Israel's response has been a devastating military campaign that has to date killed close to 60,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Most of Gaza's two million residents have been displaced by the war, more than once in many cases, and swathes of built-up areas have been reduced to rubble.
Indian Express
2 days ago
- Health
- Indian Express
‘Hell on earth': 33 die of hunger in Gaza in 48 hours, UN says its staff also at risk
At least 33 people, most of them children, have died from malnutrition in Gaza in just the past 48 hours, the Hamas-run health ministry said on Tuesday, as aid access remains critically limited. The total number of deaths from malnutrition since the Israel-Gaza war began in October 2023 now stands at 101, with 80 of them being children. The head of the UN's Palestinian Refugee Agency (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, said that even aid workers are now collapsing from hunger and exhaustion. 'Caretakers, including UNRWA colleagues in Gaza, are also in need of care now,' Lazzarini said in a statement shared at a Geneva press briefing. 'Doctors, nurses, journalists, humanitarians, among them, UNRWA staff are hungry. Many are now fainting due to hunger and exhaustion while performing their duties.' Describing the situation as 'hell on earth,' Lazzarini said that 'nowhere is safe' in the besieged Palestinian territory. UNRWA estimates that 1,000 starving people have been killed while seeking food aid since the end of May, many of them gunned down or crushed in stampedes as they tried to reach supply trucks. After ceasefire talks collapsed, Israel imposed a complete blockade on Gaza on March 2, cutting off all food and aid deliveries. Limited trucks were allowed in only from late May, and that too at a trickle. In a post on X earlier this week, UNRWA said that aid already stockpiled in warehouses outside Gaza could feed 'the entire population for over three months,' but has not been allowed in. The agency also said food prices inside Gaza have spiked by up to 40 times. Israel has repeatedly claimed it is allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza and blames Hamas for obstructing distribution, a claim disputed by aid organisations on the ground.
