Latest news with #famine
Khaleej Times
12 hours ago
- Health
- Khaleej Times
Gaza famine warning as Israel resists ceasefire calls
Gaza is slipping into famine, UN-backed experts warned on Tuesday, as the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said the death toll in the nearly 22-month war had surpassed 60,000. The health ministry figure excludes deaths from hunger in the Palestinian territory gripped by dire humanitarian conditions made worse by Israel's total blockade of aid from March to May. This week, Israel launched a daily pause in fighting and opened secure routes to enable UN and non-governmental agencies to distribute food on Gaza's devastated streets. Hundreds of truckloads of aid have begun to arrive. But Israeli strikes continued overnight, killing 30 people in the Nuseirat refugee camp, according to Gaza's civil defence agency and experts warn a humanitarian catastrophe of historic proportions is imminent. "The worst-case scenario of famine is now unfolding in the Gaza Strip," said the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative (IPC), a coalition of monitors tasked by the UN to warn of impending crises. The World Food Programme's emergency director, Ross Smith, likened the situation to some of the worst famines of the past century. "This is unlike anything we have seen in this century. It reminds us of previous disasters in Ethiopia or Biafra," Smith said via video-link from Rome. "We need urgent action now." In a statement released ahead of the IPC report, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office accused Hamas of distorting casualty figures and accused the group of looting food aid destined for Palestinian civilians. "While the situation in Gaza is difficult and Israel has been working to ensure aid delivery, Hamas benefits from attempting to fuel the perception of a humanitarian crisis," the statement said. "We already allow significant amounts of humanitarian aid into Gaza every single day, including food, water and medicine. Unfortunately, Hamas... has been stealing aid from the Gaza population, many times by shooting Palestinians." As late as Sunday, Netanyahu had been insisting there was "no starvation in Gaza" but even his close international ally, US President Donald Trump, has now warned the situation appears to be "real starvation". Israel imposed a total blockade on Gaza on March 2 after ceasefire talks broke down. In late May, it began allowing a small trickle of aid to resume, amid warnings of a wave of starvation. Then on Sunday, faced with a mounting international chorus of alarm, Israel began a series of "tactical pauses" while allowed aid trucks to cross two border crossings into Gaza, and Jordanian and Emirati planes to airdrop aid. Shipments have ramped up, but for the IPC this effort will not prove enough unless aid agencies are granted "immediate, unimpeded" humanitarian access. "Failure to act now will result in widespread death in much of the Strip," it said, warning that 16 children under the age of five had died of hunger since July 17. "Mounting evidence shows that widespread starvation, malnutrition and disease are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths," it said. According to Netanyahu's office, the pause in military operations covers "key populated areas" between 10:00 am (0700 GMT) and 8:00 pm every day. Designated aid convoy routes will be secure from 6:00 am to 11:00 pm. COGAT, an Israeli defence ministry body in charge of civil affairs in the Palestinian territories, said more than 200 truckloads of aid were distributed by the UN and aid agencies on Monday. Another 260 trucks were permitted to cross into Gaza to deposit aid at collection points, four UN tankers brought in fuel and 20 pallets of aid were airdropped from Jordanian and Emirati planes, COGAT said. Overnight, however, strikes continued. Gaza's civil defence agency said on Tuesday that Israeli air strikes killed at least 30 Palestinians, including women and children, in the central Nuseirat district. Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said the strikes were carried out overnight and into the morning and "targeted a number of citizens' homes" in the Nuseirat refugee camp. The local Al-Awda hospital said it had received "the bodies of 30 martyrs, including 14 women and 12 children". An Israeli military spokesman told AFP that he would need more information to enable him to look into the strikes. With aid experts pushing for a ceasefire to enable a large-scale humanitarian operation, Israel's foreign minister addressed reporters in Jerusalem to denounce what he called a "distorted campaign" of international pressure. Gideon Saar told reporters that if Israel was to halt the conflict while Hamas is still in power in Gaza and still holding hostages it would be a "tragedy for both Israelis and Palestinians". "It ain't gonna happen, no matter how much pressure is put on Israel," he said.
Al Bawaba
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Al Bawaba
Paris to carry out air-drop aid into Gaza amid fears of famine
ALBAWABA - France will be carrying out an air-drop aid into Gaza "in the coming days", a diplomatic source said on Tuesday. France's decision came after UN-backed experts warned that continued Israeli blockade for humanitarian aid entry into Gaza is leading to famine in the strip as babies are unable to have access to formula or basic needs. "France will carry out air drops in the coming days to meet the most essential and urgent needs of the civilian population in Gaza," AFP reported, citing the source, who also called for "an immediate opening by Israel of the land crossing points". France will join Jordan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in conducting air-drop aid into Gaza amid starvation and low aid entry due to the Israeli blockade. The number of Palestinians who died from malnutrition since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October 2023, jumped to 147, including 88 children, the Ministry of Health in Gaza revealed on Monday, July 28. It is worth noting that President Emmanuel Macron said that France will be recognizing the Palestinian state in September at the scheduled session of the UN General Assembly in New York. "The urgent need today is for the war in Gaza to end and for the civilian population to be rescued. Peace is possible. We need an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages, and massive humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza," the president wrote on X.
Washington Post
12 hours ago
- Health
- Washington Post
Famine unfolding across Gaza, says global hunger monitor
BEIRUT — Famine is 'playing out' across Gaza, the world's leading hunger monitor said Tuesday, in its strongest warning yet on the rapidly growing starvation crisis, as images of emaciated children shock the world and there is growing international criticism of Israel's war tactics. The enclave, which has long been reliant on aid as a heavy Israeli and Egyptian blockade took its toll, has been teetering on the edge of famine for two years of conflict, the report from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification said. The situation has 'worsened dramatically' in recent months, with food consumption at its lowest level since the conflict between Israel and Hamas began. 'The worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in the Gaza Strip,' the IPC alert read. The IPC, a panel developed by the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization, can formally declare a famine only after the completion of a full analysis, which is underway. 'Mounting evidence shows that widespread starvation, malnutrition, and disease are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths,' it said. 'Latest data indicates that Famine thresholds have been reached for food consumption in most of the Gaza Strip and for acute malnutrition in Gaza City.' In recent days, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly denied that there is any starvation in Gaza, describing it as a 'bold-faced lie.' But images, data verified by the globe's leading food crisis monitor, countless warnings by the United Nations and aid agencies, and hundreds of interviews with Palestinian civilians and doctors, show otherwise. At least 147 people have died of malnutrition, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, including 88 children. The number is almost twice as high as it was a month earlier. On Sunday, amid growing international pressure and a domestic political window, Israel said it would ease some of the restrictions in place on allowing aid for the Gazan population — more trucks would be able to enter, secure corridors for their movement would be created, and fighting would pause for 10 hours per day in three major population centers to help with distribution. U.N. officials welcomed the shift in Israeli policy, but they warned that if it is only enacted for one week, as Israeli military officials told them it would be, it would not be enough to reverse the tide of starvation-related deaths. Publicly, the military said the tactical pauses and increased aid into Gaza would last 'until further notice.' But three days in, it is not immediately clear how much of an impact the increased flow of aid into Gaza is having. The Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the branch of the Israeli military that handles civil affairs in the occupied territories, said that on Monday they allowed 200 trucks to be collected and distributed, 20 pallets of aid to be dropped from the sky and the entry of four fuel tankers. Desperation, though, is so high that convoys have been mobbed by hungry Palestinians and it is not clear how much of the aid has made it to organized distribution areas. The U.N. World Food Program said Tuesday that despite Israel's shift in policy, it is still not being allowed to get the necessary volumes of humanitarian aid into Gaza. 'We have not gotten the authorization, the permission to move in the volumes that we've requested,' Ross Smith, a senior regional program adviser at WFP said at a briefing in Geneva. An area is classified as in famine when it meets three conditions, the IPC explained: at least one in three children must be acutely malnourished; one in five people must be suffering extreme food shortages; and two in every 10,000 people must die daily from starvation or malnutrition and disease. Based on the latest data, which is as of July 25, two famine thresholds have been passed, the IPC said. The Israeli government did not immediately comment on the findings. Between May and July, the proportion of households experiencing extreme hunger has doubled, the alert said. In most areas of the Gaza Strip, the level of food consumption has passed the threshold for famine, it added, and in Gaza City, the threshold has been passed for the number of malnourished children. The Famine Review Committee, an independent body that vets IPC findings, endorsed the alert and said that while 'an extreme lack of humanitarian access' hinders data collection in Gaza, that it is 'clear from available evidence that starvation, malnutrition, and mortality are rapidly accelerating.'
Al Arabiya
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
France to air-drop aid into Gaza: Diplomatic source
France will air-drop aid into Gaza 'in coming days,' a diplomatic source said on Tuesday, as UN-backed experts warned the Israeli-blockaded Palestinian territory was slipping into famine. 'France will carry out air drops in the coming days to meet the most essential and urgent needs of the civilian population in Gaza,' the source said, also urging 'an immediate opening by Israel of the land crossing points.'
News.com.au
12 hours ago
- Politics
- News.com.au
Gaza famine warning as Israel resists ceasefire calls
Gaza is slipping into famine, UN-backed experts warned Tuesday, as the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said the death toll in the nearly 22-month war had surpassed 60,000. The health ministry figure excludes deaths from hunger in the Palestinian territory gripped by dire humanitarian conditions made worse by Israel's total blockade of aid from March to May. This week, Israel launched a daily pause in fighting and opened secure routes to enable UN and non-governmental agencies to distribute food on Gaza's devastated streets. Hundreds of truckloads of aid have begun to arrive. But Israeli strikes continued overnight, killing 30 people in the Nuseirat refugee camp, according to Gaza's civil defence agency -- and experts warn a humanitarian catastrophe of historic proportions is imminent. "The worst-case scenario of famine is now unfolding in the Gaza Strip," said the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative (IPC), a coalition of monitors tasked by the UN to warn of impending crises. - Urgent action now - The World Food Programme's emergency director, Ross Smith, likened the situation to some of the worst famines of the past century. "This is unlike anything we have seen in this century. It reminds us of previous disasters in Ethiopia or Biafra," Smith said via video-link from Rome. "We need urgent action now." In a statement released ahead of the IPC report, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office accused Hamas of distorting casualty figures and accused the group of looting food aid destined for Palestinian civilians. "While the situation in Gaza is difficult and Israel has been working to ensure aid delivery, Hamas benefits from attempting to fuel the perception of a humanitarian crisis," the statement said. "We already allow significant amounts of humanitarian aid into Gaza every single day, including food, water and medicine. Unfortunately, Hamas... has been stealing aid from the Gaza population, many times by shooting Palestinians." As late as Sunday, Netanyahu had been insisting there was "no starvation in Gaza" but even his close international ally, US President Donald Trump, has now warned the situation appears to be "real starvation". Israel imposed a total blockade on Gaza on March 2 after ceasefire talks broke down. In late May, it began allowing a small trickle of aid to resume, amid warnings of a wave of starvation. Then on Sunday, faced with a mounting international chorus of alarm, Israel began a series of "tactical pauses" while allowed aid trucks to cross two border crossings into Gaza, and Jordanian and Emirati planes to airdrop aid. Shipments have ramped up, but for the IPC this effort will not prove enough unless aid agencies are granted "immediate, unimpeded" humanitarian access. "Failure to act now will result in widespread death in much of the Strip," it said, warning that 16 children under the age of five had died of hunger since July 17. "Mounting evidence shows that widespread starvation, malnutrition, and disease are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths," it said. According to Netanyahu's office, the pause in military operations covers "key populated areas" between 10:00 am (0700 GMT) and 8:00 pm every day. Designated aid convoy routes will be secure from 6:00 am to 11:00 pm. COGAT, an Israeli defence ministry body in charge of civil affairs in the Palestinian territories, said more than 200 truckloads of aid were distributed by the UN and aid agencies on Monday. - Air strikes - Another 260 trucks were permitted to cross into Gaza to deposit aid at collection points, four UN tankers brought in fuel and 20 pallets of aid were airdropped from Jordanian and Emirati planes, COGAT said. Overnight, however, strikes continued. Gaza's civil defence agency said Tuesday that Israeli air strikes killed at least 30 Palestinians, including women and children, in the central Nuseirat district. Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said the strikes were carried out overnight and into the morning and "targeted a number of citizens' homes" in the Nuseirat refugee camp. The local Al-Awda hospital said it had received "the bodies of 30 martyrs, including 14 women and 12 children". An Israeli military spokesman told AFP that he would need more information to enable him to look into the strikes. With aid experts pushing for a ceasefire to enable a large-scale humanitarian operation, Israel's foreign minister addressed reporters in Jerusalem to denounce what he called a "distorted campaign" of international pressure. Gideon Saar told reporters that if Israel was to halt the conflict while Hamas is still in power in Gaza and still holding hostages it would be a "tragedy for both Israelis and Palestinians". "It ain't gonna happen, no matter how much pressure is put on Israel," he said.
