Latest news with #massstarvation
South China Morning Post
2 days ago
- 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'.
News.com.au
2 days ago
- Health
- News.com.au
World Health Organisation chief says Gaza is suffering ‘man-made mass starvation'
Gaza is suffering 'man-made mass starvation' caused by the blockade of aid, the head of the World Health Organisation has said, as Israel hits back at growing international criticism that it was behind chronic food shortages in the territory. 'I don't know what you would call it other than mass starvation, and it's man-made, and that's very clear,' Tedros Adhanom Ghebreysus told reporters during a virtual press conference from Geneva. 'This is because of (the) blockade.' At least 10 people have died due to malnutrition and starvation in the last 24 hours, Gazan authorities report, bringing the death toll caused by the crisis to 111, 80 of them children. A quarter of the territory's population is now facing famine-like conditions, according to World Health Organisation (WHO) assessments, and close to 100,000 women and children are experiencing severe acute malnutrition. 'Rates of acute malnutrition exceed 10 per cent, and over 20 per cent of pregnant and breastfeeding women that have been screened are malnourished, often severely,' Dr Ghebreysus said. 'The hunger crisis is being accelerated by the collapse of aid pipelines and restrictions on access (with) 95 per cent of households in Gaza facing severe water shortages.' His comments followed a letter signed by 109 global aid and human rights agencies – including Doctors Without Borders, Oxfam International and Amnesty International – warned that civilians and their colleagues are 'wasting away'. 'As the Israeli government's siege starves the people of Gaza, aid workers are now joining the same food lines, risking being shot just to feed their families,' the statement read. 'With supplies now totally depleted, humanitarian organisations are witnessing their own colleagues and partners waste away before their eyes.' Getting vital aid into Gaza and to the more than two million people who need it has become a key issue in the conflict. A total blockade of aid delivery to the territory – imposed by Israel in early March – was eased in May, and the longstanding United Nations-led system was sidelined for the US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). Two months later, however, Gaza's population is still suffering extreme scarcities. In their statement, the humanitarian organisations said that warehouses with tonnes of supplies were sitting untouched inside and outside Gaza, while people were 'trapped in a cycle of hope and heartbreak, waiting for assistance and ceasefires'. 'It is not just physical torment but psychological. Survival is dangled like a mirage,' they said. 'An aid worker providing psychological support spoke of the devastating impact on children: 'Children tell their parents they want to go to heaven, because at least heaven has food'.' According to the UN, more than 1050 Palestinians have been killed trying to get food since May 27. 'In too many cases where UN teams are permitted by Israel to collect supplies from closed compounds near Gaza's crossings, civilians approaching these trucks come under fire despite repeated assurances that troops would not engage or be present,' UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said at briefing earlier this week. 'This cannot be stressed enough that this unacceptable pattern is the opposite of what facilitating humanitarian operations should look like. Absolutely no one should have to risk to their lives to get food.' Israel acting 'according to international law' Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer denied the humanitarian organisations' statement, accusing them of 'serving the propaganda of Hamas, using their numbers and justifying their horrors'. There was 'no famine caused by Israel', Mr Mencer said, but 'a man-made shortage engineered by Hamas'. The extremist group, he said, was preventing supplies from being distributed and looting aid for themselves or to sell at inflated prices. 'Aid has been flowing into Gaza,' Mr Mencer said. He also blamed the UN and its associates for failing to pick up truckloads of foodstuffs and other essentials cleared and waiting on the Gaza side of the border. GHF said the UN, which refuses to work with it over neutrality concerns, 'has a capacity and operational problem' and called for 'more collaboration' to deliver lifesaving aid. The Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), an Israeli defence ministry body overseeing civil affairs in the Palestinian territories, said the 'main obstacle to maintaining a consistent flow of humanitarian aid' was a 'collection bottleneck' blamed on international organisations. While visiting IDF troops in Gaza, President Isaac Herzog similarly maintained his government was acting 'according to international law' while Hamas was 'trying to sabotage' aid distribution in a bid to obstruct the Israeli military campaign that began more than 21 months ago. Mediators have been shuttling between Israeli and Hamas negotiators in Doha since July 6 in search of an elusive truce, with each side blaming the other for refusing to budge on their key demands.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
Israel is accused of 'mass starvation' as 100 charities blast aid blockade: At least ten people 'die of malnutrition' in 24 hours
Israel stood accused tonight of inflicting 'mass starvation' on Gaza amid reports that at least ten people have died of malnutrition in 24 hours. It brought the toll of deaths from hunger in recent weeks to 111, including 80 children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Harrowing scenes among crowds at aid points have shown desperate women and children pleading for food while photos inside hospitals have revealed starving babies and children. The United Nations has estimated nearly 100,000 women and children in Gaza are approaching malnutrition. More than 100 international aid organisations and human rights groups issued a joint letter blaming Israel for the deteriorating situation. Agencies such as Save the Children, Medecins Sans Frontieres and the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) led the calls for a ceasefire, for land crossings to be reopened and for food, water and medical supplies to be restored. They wrote: 'Palestinians are trapped in a cycle of hope and heartbreak, waiting for assistance and ceasefires, only to wake up to worsening conditions. 'As mass starvation spreads across Gaza, our colleagues and those we serve are wasting away. 'As the Israeli government's siege starves the people of Gaza, aid workers are now joining the same food lines, risking being shot just to feed their families.' However, Israel denied the claims, insisting that almost 1,000 trucks of aid await distribution by aid agencies to Gazan civilians. Its foreign ministry accused the groups of 'echoing Hamas propaganda' and said it has allowed around 4,500 aid trucks to enter Gaza since lifting a complete blockade in May. It insisted that more than 700 lorries are waiting to be picked up and distributed by the UN. That's an average of around 70 a day, the lowest rate of the war and far below the 500 to 600 trucks a day the UN says are needed and which entered during a six-week ceasefire earlier this year. The agencies said only 28 trucks a day are getting through because Israel is blocking these organisations from 'accessing and delivering' supplies. They described Israeli aid drops as 'symbolic' and a 'smokescreen for inaction' while such measures 'cannot replace legal and moral obligations to protect civilians'. At least 100 Palestinians were said yesterday to have died across the enclave in the previous 24 hours. The move by the agencies appeared to have paid off on Wednesday night as Donald Trump intervened to add pressure on Israel. More than 100 international aid organisations and human rights groups issued a joint letter blaming Israel for the deteriorating situation The White House claimed the US President was distressed by the latest 'mass casualty event' on Sunday when 79 civilians were killed after Israeli troops opened fire at an aid station. Mr Trump has dispatched US peace envoy Steve Witkoff to lead talks in Rome tomorrow, with Israeli minister of strategic affairs Ron Dermer and Qatari envoys representing Hamas. The appeal by the agencies also came as the UN claimed more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed as they queued for aid in Gaza in the previous two months. UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres has described the situation in Gaza as 'a horror show' and added: 'We are seeing the last gasp of a humanitarian system built on humanitarian principles.' The Vatican has expressed growing frustration at the killings in Gaza 'of children queueing for a handful of rice'.
SBS Australia
2 days ago
- Health
- SBS Australia
Israel denies accusations of 'man-made mass starvation' in Gaza
Israel on Wednesday 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. More than 100 aid and human rights groups said earlier Wednesday that "mass starvation" was spreading in the Gaza Strip, and 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. An Israeli government spokesman, David Mencer, said there was "no famine caused by Israel. There is a man-made shortage engineered by Hamas." An organisation backed by the United States and Israel, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), began distributing aid in Gaza in May as Israel eased a two-month total blockade, effectively sidelining the longstanding UN-led system. Aid agencies have said permissions from Israel were still limited, and coordination to safely move trucks to where they are needed was a major challenge in an active war zone. Mencer accused Hamas of preventing supplies from being distributed and looting aid for themselves or to sell at inflated prices. "Aid has been flowing into Gaza," he said, but blamed the United Nations and its associates for failing to pick up truckloads of foodstuffs and other essentials cleared and waiting on the Gaza side of the border. Access to aid in Gaza The United States, meanwhile, said its top Middle East envoy was heading to Europe for talks on a possible ceasefire and an aid corridor, raising hopes of a breakthrough after more than two weeks of negotiations. On the ground, Gaza's civil defence agency told AFP that Israeli strikes killed 17 people overnight, including a pregnant woman in Gaza City. The Israeli military said it was operating in Gaza City and elsewhere in the north, and had hit dozens of "terror targets" across the coastal territory. Getting vital aid into Gaza and to the more than two million people who need it has become a key issue in the conflict, with reports from doctors and aid agencies of increasing cases of malnutrition and starvation. Muhammad Zakariya Ayyoub al-Matouq, a 1.5-year-old child in Gaza, faces life-threatening malnutrition as the humanitarian situation worsens due to ongoing Israeli attacks and blockade. Source: Getty / Anadolu / Getty Images The humanitarian organisations said in a joint statement that warehouses with tonnes of supplies were sitting untouched inside and outside Gaza, while people were "trapped in a cycle of hope and heartbreak, waiting for assistance and ceasefires". "It is not just physical torment but psychological. Survival is dangled like a mirage," they added. The 111 signatories, including Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Save the Children and Oxfam, called for an immediate negotiated ceasefire, the opening of all land crossings and the free flow of aid through UN-led mechanisms. In Khan Yunis, in Gaza's south, residents told AFP how they battled to get food aid, with one man calling it "a catastrophic scene and a real famine". The UN said on Tuesday that Israeli forces had killed more than 1,000 Palestinians trying to get aid since late May, most near GHF sites. Mediators continue to pursue truce Even after Israel began easing its aid blockade in late May, Gaza's population is still suffering extreme scarcities. GHF said the UN, which refuses to work with it over neutrality concerns, "has a capacity and operational problem" and called for "more collaboration" to deliver life-saving aid. COGAT, an Israeli defence ministry body overseeing civil affairs in the Palestinian territories, said the "main obstacle to maintaining a consistent flow of humanitarian aid" was a "collection bottleneck" blamed on international organisations. Mediators have been shuttling between Israeli and Hamas negotiators in Doha since 6 July in search of an elusive truce, with each side blaming the other for refusing to budge on their key demands.
CBC
2 days ago
- Health
- CBC
'People are starving' in Gaza, says WHO chief
WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, speaking Wednesday, described the situation on the ground n Gaza as 'mass-starvation' and called for the urgent delivery of more aid.
