Latest news with #foodshortages
News.com.au
15 hours ago
- Politics
- News.com.au
Trump envoy to visit Gaza as pressure mounts on Israel
President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff held talks in Israel on Thursday ahead of a rare US visit to aid distribution sites in Gaza, where nearly 22 months of grinding war and dire food shortages have sparked an international outcry. Witkoff, who has been involved in months of stalled negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage release deal, met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shortly after his arrival, the Israeli leader's office said. On Friday he is to visit Gaza, the White House announced. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Witkoff, who previously visited Gaza in January, would "inspect the current distribution sites and secure a plan to deliver more food and meet with local Gazans to hear firsthand about this dire situation on the ground". Gaza's civil defence agency reported at least 58 Palestinians killed late Wednesday when Israeli forces opened fire on a crowd attempting to block an aid convoy -- the latest in a spate of near-daily shootings of desperate aid seekers. The Israeli military said troops had fired "warning shots" as Gazans gathered around the aid trucks. An AFP correspondent saw stacks of bullet-riddled corpses in Gaza City's Al-Shifa Hospital. Jameel Ashour, who lost a relative in the shooting, told AFP at the overflowing morgue that Israeli troops opened fire after "people saw thieves stealing and dropping food and the hungry crowd rushed in hopes of getting some". Witkoff has been the top US representative in indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas but the discussions broke down last week when Israel and the United States recalled their delegations from Doha. Israel is under mounting international pressure to agree a ceasefire and allow the world to flood Gaza with food, with Canada and Portugal the latest Western governments to announce plans to recognise a Palestinian state. - International pressure - Trump criticised Canada's decision and, in a post on his Truth Social network, placed the blame for the crisis squarely on Palestinian militant group Hamas, whose October 7, 2023 attack on Israel triggered the war. "The fastest way to end the Humanitarian Crises in Gaza is for Hamas to SURRENDER AND RELEASE THE HOSTAGES!!!" declared Trump, one of Israel's staunchest international supporters. Earlier this week, however, the US president contradicted Netanyahu's insistence that reports of hunger in Gaza were exaggerated, warning that the territory faces "real starvation". UN-backed experts have reported "famine is now unfolding" in Gaza, with images of sick and emaciated children drawing international outrage. Israel is also under pressure to resolve the crisis from other traditional supporters. Germany's top diplomat Johann Wadephul, who met Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar and Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Thursday, warned before setting off that: "Israel is finding itself increasingly in the minority". Wadephul noted that Germany's European allies increasingly favour recognising Palestinian statehood, which Israel opposes. After the meeting, Saar's office said he had told his German guest that countries queueing to recognise Palestinian statehood were merely rewarding Hamas. And he insisted "a Palestinian state will not be established for the simple reason that Israel will not be able to forfeit its own security." The US State Department said it would deny visas to officials from the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank -- the core of any future Palestinian state. - 'This is what death looks like' - The Hamas attack that triggered that war resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to a tally based on official figures. Of the 251 people seized in the attack, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 declared dead by the Israeli military. The Israeli offensive, nearing its 23rd month, has killed at least 60,249 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to Hamas-run Gaza's health ministry. This week UN aid agencies said deaths from starvation had begun. The civil defence agency said Israeli attacks across Gaza on Thursday killed at least 32 people. "Enough!" cried Najah Aish Umm Fadi, who lost relatives in a strike on a camp for the displaced in central Gaza. "We put up with being hungry, but now the death of children who had just been born?" Further north, Amir Zaqot told AFP after getting his hands on some of the aid parachuted from planes, that "this is what death looks like. People are fighting each other with knives". "If the crossings were opened... food could reach us. But this is nonsense," Zaqot said of the airdrops. Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing many areas mean AFP cannot independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defence and other parties.
New York Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- New York Times
What to Know About Starvation in Gaza and Deadly Violence Near Aid Sites
Israel eased some restrictions on food supplies to Gaza over the weekend amid growing global outrage over rising starvation in the territory. The moves followed months of Israeli restrictions that helped spur widespread hunger, shocked the world, and heightened calls for Israel and Hamas to end their war in Gaza. Though there have been food shortages in Gaza since Israel restricted aid supplies soon after the war began, the situation has never been as dire as it is now. The current crisis began in early March, when Israel cut off all food supplies to the enclave, saying without evidence that Hamas was systematically stealing it. When Israel partly lifted the blockade in late May, it changed how most food is distributed. The new method, which largely relies on private contractors instead of the United Nations, requires Palestinians to walk for miles through extremely dangerous areas to reach the distribution sites, making it almost impossible for them to find food safely or cheaply. Israel has rejected such criticism, saying that the United Nations is now welcome to deliver as much aid to Gaza as it wants. It has attributed the food shortages to the reluctance of the United Nations to do so. U.N. officials say that Israeli restrictions and combat operations make it hard to safely coordinate aid convoys. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
CNA
5 days ago
- Politics
- CNA
UNRWA chief says Gaza aid airdrops will not stop 'starvation'
JERUSALEM: The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said Saturday (Jul 26) that planned airdrops of aid into the Gaza Strip would not solve severe food shortages caused by months of restrictions on the entry of supplies. "Airdrops will not reverse the deepening starvation. They are expensive, inefficient & can even kill starving civilians," UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini wrote on X, calling the wave of hunger affecting Gaza "manmade". An Israeli official told AFP on Friday that aid drops in Gaza would resume soon, adding they would be conducted by the United Arab Emirates and Jordan. The humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory has gravely deteriorated in recent days, with international NGOs warning of soaring malnutrition among children. "Lift the siege, open the gates & guarantee safe movements + dignified access to people in need," Lazzarini said, referring to the various entry points under Israeli control that regulate access into Gaza. Israel imposed a total blockade on the entry of aid into Gaza on Mar 2 after talks to extend a ceasefire broke down. It began to allow a trickle of aid to enter again in late May. The UN and NGOs on the ground have decried the severe scarcity facing Gaza's 2.4 million people, with shortages of food, clean water, medicine and fuel. Israel's military said Friday that the country did "not limit the number of trucks going into the Gaza Strip", and that humanitarian organisations and the UN were not collecting the aid once it was inside the territory. Humanitarian organisations accuse the Israeli army of imposing excessive restrictions on the goods allowed into Gaza and on the routes made available to transport the aid to distribution points. The United Arab Emirates, Jordan, France and other countries carried out airdrops in Gaza in 2024, at a time when the transport of aid on land routes also faced restrictions.
SBS Australia
6 days ago
- Health
- SBS Australia
UN Secretary-General says worsening Gaza situation is a moral stain on the entire world
The United Nations is warning that conditions now in Gaza are catastrophic, and will get even worse quickly. UN spokesperson Stephanie Tremblay says food shortages and malnutrition are pushing Gaza's most vulnerable beyond the edge. 'Hunger and malnutrition increase the risk of illnesses that weaken the immune system, especially among women, children, older people and those with disabilities and chronic diseases. The consequences can turn deadly fast. ... Just yesterday, the local health authorities announced that two more people died from starvation. In the meantime, the trickle of supplies that are making it into Gaza are nowhere near adequate to address the immense needs." Only five out of 15 planned humanitarian missions were completed this week due to access denials or obstructions. The UN says it is ready to act, but claims it is being blocked at almost every turn. "If Israel opens the crossings, lets fuel and equipment in, and allows humanitarian staff to operate safely, we will accelerate the delivery of food aid, health services, clean water and waste management, nutrition supplies and shelter materials. Ensuring that these elements are in place will be critical to scaling-up assistance in the event of a ceasefire. However, right now, various constraints imposed by the Israeli authorities on aid delivery continue to hamper our ability to respond." Israel continues to deny it's responsible for what the World Health organisation claims is a man-made famine in Gaza. Meanwhile, an Israeli airstrike has hit a school sheltering displaced families in Gaza City. At least five people were killed. Witnesses, including this man, Mohammed Abu Odeh, describe a scene of blood, rubble and body parts. 'We were sitting in God's protection, getting ready for prayer. Suddenly, there was a targeting of the school. We rushed quickly toward the classroom (the targeted place was a classroom, a room). We found body parts scattered all over the ground - adults, children, women, and kids. No one here was left without being targeted and martyred." Another man in the area, Mohammed Jendya says Gazans are being asked to endure too much. 'We endured starvation. Now we have to endure rockets? We can't even get flour, and they're dropping missiles on us. It's injustice.' In soup kitchen lines, mothers hold out empty pots. One woman, Umm Mohammed, says she has no lentils, no rice, not even bread to give her children. At a shelter nearby, Samah Matar watches over her two sons, both with cerebral palsy. Four-year-old Ameer weighs just 7.4 kilograms. His older brother, Youssef, has lost nearly a third of his body weight since the war began. Ms Matar says she can't provide for them. 'The two boys have cerebral palsy. I can't even find milk or nappies for them because of the high rise in prices in Gaza, which led to malnourishment in both children. I am also a breastfeeding mother, I have a son who is 10-month-old suffering from malnourishment. The weight of the children is very low, their bones are protruding, I can't provide them with milk or nappies, not even bread, sugar to make them some tea, I cannot provide it for them.' U-N Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has made some of his most forceful comments yet on the situation in Gaza. 'From the beginning, I have repeatedly condemned the horrific 7 October terror attacks by Hamas. But nothing can justify the explosion of death and destruction since. The scale and scope is beyond anything we have seen in recent times. I cannot explain the level of indifference and inaction we see by too many in the international community. The lack of compassion. The lack of truth. The lack of humanity. ... Children speak of wanting to go to heaven, because, at least, they say, there is food there. We hold video calls with our own humanitarians who are starving before our eyes." He is demanding an immediate and permanent ceasefire, the release of all hostages, and unimpeded humanitarian access. He says the UN stands ready to scale up operations, if only given the chance. 'Our plans are ready, and they are finalised. we know what works – and we know what does not. ... We need action. An immediate and permanent ceasefire. The immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, and immediate and unimpeded humanitarian access. At the same time, we need urgent, concrete, and irreversible steps towards a two-state solution.' Despite those calls, the path to peace appears to have grown narrower. Both Israel and the United States have pulled out of ceasefire negotiations in Qatar. US President Donald Trump citing what he calls Hamas' unwillingness to make a deal. 'Hamas didn't want to make a deal. I think they want to die. And it got to a point where you have to finish the job... They're going to be hunted down.' Mr Trump says Hamas forfeited its leverage by refusing to release the last hostages. He's also defended US humanitarian contributions. "We contributed $60 million to food and supplies and everything else. We hope the money gets there because, you know, that money gets taken, the food gets taken. We're going to do more, but we gave a lot of money. We gave a majority of the money, and the sad part is that no other country other than us gives anything." Mr Trump's claim is disputed by multiple aid organisations and donor states, who say the bottleneck is not money, but access. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu echoed President Trump's tone, stating Israel is considering what he says are alternative options to both retrieve hostages and defeat Hamas, signalling a likely intensification of the military campaign. But Mr Guterres says this matter goes well beyond a military or ancient ideological battle. "This is not just a humanitarian crisis. It is a moral crisis that challenges the global conscience. ... But words don't feed hungry children.'
South China Morning Post
24-07-2025
- Health
- South China Morning Post
Mass starvation in Gaza: Israel blames Hamas as global outcry grows
Israel has hit back at growing international criticism that it was behind chronic food shortages in Gaza, instead accusing Hamas of deliberately creating a humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territory. Advertisement More than 100 aid and human rights groups said earlier Wednesday that 'mass starvation' was spreading in the Gaza Strip, while France warned of a growing 'risk of famine' caused by 'the blockade imposed by Israel'. The head of the World Health Organization also weighed in, saying that a 'large proportion of the population of Gaza is starving'. 'I don't know what you would call it other than mass starvation - and it's man-made,' Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters. A malnourished two-year-old Palestinian boy in Gaza. Photo: AFP But an Israeli government spokesman, David Mencer, said there was 'no famine caused by Israel. There is a man-made shortage engineered by Hamas'.
