Latest news with #humanitarianCrisis
BBC News
3 hours ago
- Health
- BBC News
One in five children in Gaza is malnourished, UN aid agency says
One in five children in Gaza City is malnourished and cases are increasing every day, the UN's Palestinian refugee agency (Unrwa) a statement issued on Thursday, Unrwa Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini cited a colleague telling him: "People in Gaza are neither dead nor alive, they are walking corpses."More than 100 international aid organisations and human rights groups have also warned of mass starvation - pressing for governments to take which controls the entry of all supplies into Gaza, says there is no siege and blames Hamas for any cases of malnutrition. The UN, however, has warned that the level of aid getting into Gaza is "a trickle" and the hunger crisis in the territory "has never been so dire".In his statement on Thursday, Lazzarini said "more than 100 people, the vast majority of them children, have reportedly died of hunger"."Most children our teams are seeing are emaciated, weak and at high risk of dying if they don't get the treatment they urgently need," he added, pleading for Israel to "allow humanitarian partners to bring unrestricted and uninterrupted humanitarian assistance to Gaza".On Wednesday, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said a large proportion of the population of Gaza was "starving"."I don't know what you would call it other than mass starvation - and it's man-made," the head of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said. In northern Gaza, Hanaa Almadhoun, 40, said local markets are often without food and other supplies. "If they do exist then they come at exorbitant prices that no ordinary person can afford," she told the BBC over WhatsApp. She said flour was expensive and difficult to secure, and that people have sold "gold and personal belongings" to afford it. The mother-of-three said "every new day brings a new challenge" as people search for "something edible". "With my own eyes, I've seen children rummaging through the garbage in search of food scraps," she added. During a visit to Israeli troops in Gaza on Wednesday, Israel's President Isaac Herzog insisted his country was providing humanitarian aid "according to international law".But Tahani Shehada, an aid worker in Gaza, said people "are just trying to survive hour-by-hour"."Even simple things like cooking [and] taking a shower have become luxuries," she said. "I have a baby. He's eight months old. He doesn't know what fresh fruit tastes like," she added. Israel stopped aid deliveries to Gaza in early March following a two-month ceasefire. The blockade was partially eased after nearly two months, but food, fuel and medicine shortages with the US, established a new aid system run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). According to the UN human rights office, more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military while trying to get food aid over the past two says at least 766 of them have been killed in the vicinity of one of the GHF's four distribution centres, which are operated by US private security contractors and are located inside Israeli military 288 people have been reported killed near UN and other aid has accused Hamas of instigating the chaos near the aid sites. It says its troops have only fired warning shots and that they do not intentionally shoot GHF says the UN is using "false" figures from Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry. Najah, a 19-year-old widow sheltering in a hospital in Gaza, said she fears she would "get shot" if she travelled to aid distribution site."I hope they bring us something to eat and drink. We die of hunger with nothing to eat or drink. We live in tents. We are finished off," Najah told the BBC. A doctor working in Gaza with a UK medical charity, Dr Aseel, said Gaza was not close to famine, but already "living it". "My husband went once [to an aid distribution point] and twice and then got shot and that was it," she said. "If we are to die from hunger, let it be. The path to aid is the path to death."Abu Alaa, a market seller in Gaza, said he and his children "go to bed hungry every night". "We are not alive. We are dead. We are pleading with the whole world to intervene and save us," he added. Walaa Fathi, who is eight months pregnant with her third child, said Gazans are "experiencing a catastrophe and a famine that no one could have imagined". "I hope that my baby stays in my womb and I don't have to give birth in these difficult circumstances," she told the BBC from Deir al-Balah.
BBC News
3 hours ago
- Politics
- BBC News
'The hardest time I have lived through': BBC's Gaza freelance journalists on struggle to feed families
Three trusted freelance Palestinian journalists whom the BBC relies on for its Gaza coverage have shared how they are now struggling to feed their families and often go two days or more without of the men have kept their cameras running, sending us vital footage, even on days when their close relatives have been killed, they have lost their homes, or have been fleeing from Israeli military advances with their was previously badly wounded by shrapnel from an Israeli bombing while on assignment. But he says the current time is "the hardest time I have lived through since I was born. It's a huge crisis of suffering and deprivation."Global food security experts have not yet classified the situation in Gaza as a famine, but UN agencies have warned of man-made, mass starvation taking have blamed Israel, which controls all supplies entering the Palestinian territory, but it has denied responsibility. We have agreed not to identify our colleagues by name out of consideration for their tell us that not being able to provide for the youngest and most vulnerable of their loved ones is most difficult of all."My son who has autism is unaware of what is going on around him. He doesn't know that we are in a war and he doesn't speak," says one of our cameramen in Gaza City, who is a father-of-four."In recent days, he's so hungry that he's started hitting his stomach with his hand to signal to us that he wants food."Our youngest colleague, who is in southern Gaza, is the main breadwinner for his parents and siblings."I am constantly wondering how to get food for my family," he tells us. "My little sister, who's 13, keeps on asking for food and water and we can't get any for her. Any water we find will be contaminated." The BBC has released a joint statement with other media organisations saying it is "desperately concerned" about the wellbeing of local freelance journalists that it works with in Gaza."For many months, these independent journalists have been the world's eyes and ears on the ground in Gaza. They are now facing the same dire circumstances as those they are covering," says the statement by the BBC and AFP, AP and Reuters news current conditions make telling the story of what is happening even more challenging. "I feel tired and exhausted all the time, to the point of dizziness and falling to the ground," says a veteran journalist who now works with us in Gaza City and is looking after his mother, sisters and five children aged two to says he has lost 30kg (4st 7lbs) in 21 months of war."I used to complete most news reports with great speed, but now I am slow in finishing them due to my poor health and psychological state," he tells us. "Delirium and fatigue accompanies me.""I can't describe the feeling," says our southern Gaza cameraman. "My stomach twists in knots, and I have a headache, add to that being emaciated and weak. I used to work from 07:00 until 22:00 but now I can barely do one story. I just feel dizzy."Recently, he collapsed during filming but later resumed his work. While food shortages have been a constant issue during the war, previously those receiving salaries from outside could still buy basic supplies albeit at exorbitant prices on local markets. Now even those markets are largely empty."I've reached the point of taking food from the charity kitchen. In recent days, this has meant my kids have been eating one meal a day - just limited foodstuffs like lentils, rice and pasta," says the Gaza City journalist with four small of the men say they have taken to drinking water with a little salt to try to suppress their hunger. One says he can sometimes buy a 50g biscuit for his daily meal but this costs 30 shekels ($9; £6.60).Getting hold of money is an ordeal in itself. It now involves using money merchants."If I need cash, it's mostly not available, but when it is, it's accompanied by a withdrawal fee of 45%," explains one Gaza City cameraman. "That means that if I go to withdraw $1,000, I will get only $550. The whole process is exhausting and any vendors nowadays demand cash.""The difficulty is because of the closure of the banks. These money transfers are another form of suffering after our hunger," our colleague in southern Gaza adds. In the past, Israeli-accredited BBC journalists like myself were able to travel regularly to Gaza to report, even during since the start of the war on 7 October 2023, Israel along with Egypt - when its Rafah crossing was still open - has prevented foreign journalists from accessing the territory except on limited embeds with the Israeli army."We once again urge the Israeli authorities to allow journalists in and out of Gaza," the BBC and other news organisations said in their week, 28 countries including the UK released a joint statement saying: "The war in Gaza must end now." They called for Israel to comply with its obligations under international law and stop the "drip feeding" of Wednesday, more than 100 aid agencies and rights groups stated that "with supplies now totally depleted, humanitarian organisations are witnessing their own colleagues and partners waste away before their eyes."The news organisations noted that: "Journalists endure many deprivations and hardships in warzones. We are deeply alarmed that the threat of starvation is now one of them."They added: "It is essential that adequate food supplies reach the people [in Gaza]."For now, our own colleagues are battling to get through each day, balancing their responsibilities to their families with their desire to tell the world about the extraordinary difficulties their people are living through."It's currently catastrophic. Hunger has reached every home," one told us. "This is like a suspended death sentence."
Irish Times
4 hours ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
‘They are very weak, they're thin, their minds have stopped': Stranded fathers' anguish over children in Gaza
Ahmed is less than 100km away from Gaza 's northern tip, but it may as well be the other side of the world. In the hot Palestinian oasis city of Jericho, he fields constant calls from his three hungry children in the Palestinian enclave. 'Imagine as a father receiving this call,' he says, pain visible on his face. 'For two years our daughters received no kind of education. They are very weak, they're thin, their minds stopped ... They can't think due to malnutrition,' Ahmed continues. 'Two million people are sleeping starving [in Gaza]. You cannot find sugary beverages or coffee, even the water is polluted. There are a number of people sleeping in the streets, even tents are not available. You can't use the toilet because the places are too crowded.' The 33-year-old was one of three Gazan labourers who met The Irish Times in Jericho, where they have been stuck for nearly two years. They spoke in the office of the Palestinian Agricultural Development Association (Parc), where they receive some support, and asked that only their first names be published for safety reasons. They agreed to the interview because they wanted to highlight the conditions their families are experiencing in Gaza. When the Hamas-led attacks happened on October 7th, 2023, there were thought to be thousands of Gazan labourers inside Israel . Their permits were cancelled, and while thousands were arrested and sent back to Gaza – some of whom alleged they were tortured – others say they were forced to go to the occupied West Bank and locked out of Gaza completely. Hundreds ended up in Jericho, where they have waited nearly 22 months as the suffering back home mounts. Some live in a remote shelter on a Palestinian security forces training base, while others rent rooms or stay with relatives. Abed (33) – who has two sons and a daughter in Gaza – lives in a refugee camp. 'If I get the chance I'd go back to Gaza and stay there,' says Ismail (30). Ahmed – whose wife and three children are in Gaza – said the men could be arrested at a checkpoint for even trying to leave Jericho and locked up in an Israeli prison for an indefinite period. Yet staying in Jericho is a form of torture for him too. His two daughters – aged eight and 10 – were injured by shrapnel during the war. All of the three men's homes were destroyed and their families live in tents with 'high temperatures, insects everywhere, no clean water', Ahmed says. He points at a tissue packet in front of him: 'for example, this tissue is not available in Gaza.' Contact can be difficult. 'Some periods the whole region is blacked out from communication and sometimes you have to try many times,' he says. The men send money, but transfer fees can be up to 50 per cent. Prices for food and other supplies have skyrocketed – that is if they are even available. Farming work in Jericho is seasonal, in an area where temperatures topped 40 degrees this month. When there is employment, the men earn about 100 shekels (€26) a day. 'My daughter is daily on a group call asking when am I coming back, blaming me,' says Ahmed. '[My children] think I ran away. I say 'inshallah' [God willing]. I explained [what happened] many times and they still just blame me. They are frustrated, they are children. I explain that I'm trying to protect them, provide them with food, with money. I just try to stop my feelings from exploding.' Some Gazans in Jericho have learned about the deaths of close family members remotely. As the death toll in the enclave approaches 60,000, according to Gazan authorities, emergency appeals are being issued. This week, more than 100 aid organisations said supplies are 'totally depleted', while the head of the World Health Organisation, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, called this a man-made mass starvation. Ismail calls the current US and Israel-backed aid distribution system a 'death trap'. According to the UN, more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since May while trying to access food . A Palestinian man on Wednesday inspects the damage around a house hit in an Israeli strike a day earlier in western Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip. Photograph: Omar Al-Qatta/AFP via Getty Images 'The Israelis target everyone, this is a genocide,' says Ahmed, who called for countries to boycott Israeli goods and 'support the Palestinians in their global efforts and inside the UN'. Israel has denied accusations of genocide, for which it is facing a case at the International Court of Justice . Hearing about Ireland's proposed Occupied Territories Bill , Ahmed says he supports it as 'if you harm their economy they will review their policies'. Ismail also says he would like to see it introduced because 'I want to feel there's someone with us'. Ahmed's favourite memories of Gaza, from before 2023, involved the 'simple life', the sea and family gatherings. Now, many of the places he spent three decades in have been ruined. 'There's no future, the whole of Gaza is destroyed, where is the future?' he asks. 'Israeli policies are meant to displace the people. I hope I can get back but If I have any opportunity [to go abroad] I'd go.' He said he hopes a ceasefire will happen 'to meet basic needs: food, shelter, water. Then we can think about how to reconstruct our homes, streets. Even if the war continues, allow aid in.' 'To the international community as a whole: it's good if you can do anything to protect the Palestinian people,' adds Ismail, calling again for humanitarian aid to be sent to Gaza immediately. 'The images coming out of Gaza of dead children show what is happening.'
CNN
4 hours ago
- Politics
- CNN
Gaza is starving and outrage is spreading. Will Netanyahu listen?
The Middle East Israel-Hamas war The UNFacebookTweetLink Follow The images of skeletal children that are now pouring out of Gaza are shocking but they should not be surprising. Humanitarian groups with decades of experience distributing aid in the Strip have been warning about this scenario for months, since Israel began throttling aid to a trickle. Haunting footage of lifeless bodies with sharp bones protruding through stretched skin can be seen around the world. The pictures of starvation in Gaza are horrific, distressing and inescapable. The main United Nations agency for Palestinians said Thursday that 'people are being starved, while a few kilometers away supermarkets are loaded with food,' highlighting the stark and uncomfortable reality between life in Israel and survival in Gaza. On a popular US-Canadian podcast this week, listeners learned that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prefers Burger King to McDonalds, a 'Whopper' seeming to be his burger of choice. While Netanyahu did not introduce the topic, the public discussion on fast food by the man responsible for getting food into Gaza is, at its most generous, tone deaf. The US correspondent for Israeli newspaper Haaretz noted that Netanyahu 'spent valuable time' on the burger chat 'rather than answering legitimate questions about the Gaza humanitarian crisis or the delays in sealing a hostage deal and cease-fire.' World leaders see the same pictures of starvation as everyone else and yet seem powerless to stop them, unable to pressure Israel into allowing more aid in or returning to the tried and tested UN-led distribution methods. It is true that condemnation is becoming more collective and targeted. More than two dozen European foreign ministers jointly criticized Israel's 'drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians,' a statement Israel's foreign ministry rejected as 'disconnected from reality.' More than 100 international humanitarian organizations warned Israeli restrictions on aid are endangering the lives of doctors and aid workers. But these are words and words can be ignored. Writing about the EU response, former Israeli hostage negotiator Gershon Baskin said it was 'still just a piece of paper. Into the trash bin of history is the way that the State of Israel treats it.' So, what could reverse what the United Nations chief is calling the 'horror show' in Gaza? In a word, Trump. The US president was publicly scathing of Netanyahu when Israel struck Iran hard in the final hours before a ceasefire. After a phone call, Israel pulled back. When Israel struck the only Catholic Church in Gaza, Trump did not have a 'positive reaction' according to the White House and called Netanyahu. The Israeli leader said he deeply regretted it, calling the strike a mistake. An irate phone call from the leader of the free world does appear to be the quickest way to provoke a change of heart from a leader seemingly unmoved by increasing international criticism. The White House spokesperson has said Trump 'wants the killing to end' but visible anger, frustration, condemnation from the US president over the humanitarian crisis unfolding has been minimal, at least publicly. The US focus has been on securing a ceasefire and hostage deal, still elusive despite words of hope and optimism from the Trump administration in recent weeks. Arab leaders have condemned Israel, called for an immediate ceasefire and devised a plan to rebuild post-war Gaza to counter Trump's plan to displace the entire population from the Strip. The Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council called Israel's policies this week the 'crime of the century.' Israel has long rejected accusations of a humanitarian blockade, insisting its policies are designed to prevent Hamas from stealing supplies, claims aid agencies have denied. Israel's President Isaac Herzog, visiting Gaza Wednesday, says Israel is following international law and it is Hamas who is trying to sabotage the aid process. COGAT, the agency in charge of aid entering Gaza, says the the military is 'working to allow and facilitate the transfer of aid, including food.' Israel has also pushed back on calls to allow more aid in, saying there are truckloads waiting at the border to be collected by aid agencies. The UN and others on the ground have countered that Israel does not always give permission to move aid or approves routes deemed too dangerous. Comments from the far right of Netanyahu's coalition calling for starving Gaza until the hostages are released provoke widespread revulsion outside Israel, but less within it. Hamas' brutal attack on October 7, 2023 killed around 1,200 Israelis, saw another roughly 250 kidnapped as hostages, and hardened Israeli views against their Palestinian neighbors. But one recent poll shows 71% of Israelis asked now want the war to end. While Netanyahu is losing his mandate to keep fighting, there are no signs that his coalition plans to ease restrictions on aid to Gaza, where nearly 60,000 people have been killed since the start of the war. And the media in Israel focuses more on concern for the remaining hostages and the soldiers fighting in Gaza, than it does on the plight of besieged Palestinians. For them, hope now rests on a ceasefire, a deal that will allow a flood of supplies into the ruined territory. But when will that be agreed, how soon will the borders open to life-saving aid and how many will die in the meantime? The malnutrition toll has been spiking in recent days with the director of al Shifa Hospital warning this week 'we are heading towards terrifying death tolls.' One UN worker on the ground added, 'People in Gaza are neither dead (nor) alive, they are walking corpses'.
BBC News
4 hours ago
- Health
- BBC News
He went to get aid and didn't come back - stories of people killed in Gaza
A teenager who went looking for food and a man who endured months of malnutrition are among those who have died in Gaza in the past Thursday, the Hamas-run health ministry recorded two new deaths due to malnutrition in the past 24 hours, as aid agencies warned Israel's siege of Gaza was causing "mass starvation" to spread across the territory. An Israeli government spokesman denied this, saying Hamas was to blame for creating a food shortage and hijacking the UN warning that humanitarian conditions in Gaza are breaking down at an "accelerating" pace, and the World Health Organization saying that at least 10% of Gazans are acutely malnourished, the BBC has been speaking to people in the territory about loved ones they've lost in the past week. Abdullah Jendeia, aged 19 Nineteen-year-old Abdullah Omar Jendeia was killed on Sunday, 20 July, when he went out to find food, says his sister had been staying in their mother's damaged house in al-Sabra in central Gaza."He was impatient to go and fetch some food that day," Nadreen says. "I told him, 'Just eat the few lentils we have left,' but he refused."She says that at 16:00 (13:00 GMT) Abdullah left the house to walk more than 5km (3.1 miles) north to an aid truck that comes weekly, to get a few kilogrammes of flour to feed the family. He was with two of his brothers and some about 23:00 that night, one of the brothers, Mahmoud, called Nadreen to tell her that while they were waiting by the aid truck Israeli soldiers had suddenly opened fire on them. They were in the Netzarim Corridor - a military zone cutting off the north of the Gaza Strip from the told Nadreen that Abdullah had been killed and he and the other brother had been injured."He was a joy to be around, kind-hearted and fun at the same time," she says, recalling afternoon walks she and Abdullah used to take on the beach in Gaza when they were younger. "He loved football and sport."She says Abdullah used to work with local grocers, helping to carry fruit and vegetables for them and "had dreams of opening a new business after the war".In response, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it was operating to dismantle Hamas's military capabilities and took feasible precautions to mitigate civilian said that it could "better address your query if you were able to provide coordinates" for the location of the Hamas-run civil defence agency said Israeli fire had killed a total of 93 people and wounded dozens more across Gaza on that day, mainly near aid points. Speaking about one specific incident in northern Gaza, the Israeli military said troops fired warning shots at a crowd "to remove an immediate threat" but disputed the numbers killed. Ahmed Alhasant, age 41 Ahmed Alhasant, 41, died on Tuesday, 22 brother, Yehia Alhasant, says "malnutrition killed him - day after day, he was getting more and more poorly".Yehia says his brother started to become unwell after Israel imposed a blockade of aid into Gaza in March. Since May, Israel has been allowing some aid into the territory, but aid groups say this is nowhere near enough. For three months, Ahmed, who was also diabetic, was not able to get enough food or drink, relying on bits of bread and occasionally canned food, says a result, his weight plummeted from 80kg (12 stone 8lbs ) to 35kg and his health rapidly deteriorated, Yehia says."His speech was slurred and sometimes we could hardly understand him," Yehia cousin, Refaat Alhasant, says the family took him to hospital, but "they would tell us 'he needs food not medicines'. So we took him back home."Yehia says Ahmed, who used to install television satellites and was a football fan, "passed away peacefully" at his home in the city of Deir al-Balah in the centre of Gaza."He had a strong personality and was one of the kindest people you could ever meet," Yehia added. Mohamed Kullab, 29 Mohamed Kullab, 29, was killed in an air strike on 22 July, according to his Ragaida says Mohamed had been resting in his tent in a camp for displaced Palestinians in the al-Qadesiya area of western Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, when an air strike hit the area between 17:00 and 18:00 local time."He was on his own. We heard that he was killed a few hours after the bombing when some people called his sister and informed her about his death," says says he spoke to Mohamed the day before he died - they bumped into each other while looking for aid."He told me, 'don't go on your own, I will try and get you some flour'. The next day, he was dead."Mohamed leaves behind a sister and a younger brother who completely depended on him, says Amar."Kullab was a respectful young guy, who was full of life. He wouldn't engage himself in any unnecessary issues and everyone around him loved him," he response, the IDF issued a similar statement to that given for Abdullah, saying it took "feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm" and that it would need co-ordinates of the location where he died to look into his case any further.
