Latest news with #starvation
Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Gazans 'wasting away' as mass starvation spreads, humanitarian groups warn
More than 100 international aid organisations and human rights groups are warning of mass starvation in Gaza and pressing for governments to take action. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Save the Children and Oxfam are among the signatories of a joint statement that says their colleagues and the people they serve are "wasting away". Israel, which controls the entry of all supplies into the territory, rejected the organisations' statement and accused them of "serving the propaganda of Hamas". Their warning came as Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry said another 10 Palestinians had died as a result of malnutrition in the last 24 hours. That brings the number of such deaths across Gaza since Sunday to 43, according to the ministry. The UN has reported that hospitals have admitted people in a state of severe exhaustion caused by a lack of food, and that others are collapsing in the streets. Latest updates from Gaza Gaza health ministry says 33 people died from malnutrition in 48 hours Church leaders return with 'broken hearts' after rare visit to Gaza Bowen: Israel's allies see evidence of war crimes in Gaza mounting up The Today Debate: What can stop the war in Gaza "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 109 humanitarian organisations said in the statement published on Wednesday. "With supplies now totally depleted, humanitarian organisations are witnessing their own colleagues and partners waste away before their eyes." Israel imposed a total blockade of aid deliveries to Gaza at the start of March and resumed its military offensive against Hamas two weeks later, collapsing a two-month ceasefire. It said it wanted to put pressure on the armed group to release its remaining Israeli hostages. Although the blockade was partially eased after almost two months, amid warnings of a looming famine from global experts, the shortages of food, medicine and fuel have worsened. "Doctors report record rates of acute malnutrition, especially among children and older people. Illnesses like acute watery diarrhoea are spreading, markets are empty, waste is piling up, and adults are collapsing on the streets from hunger and dehydration," the humanitarian organisations warned. "An aid worker providing psychosocial support spoke of the devastating impact on children: 'Children tell their parents they want to go to heaven, because at least heaven has food.'" The World Health Organization (WHO) has said its assessments show that a quarter of the population is facing famine-like conditions, and that almost 100,000 women and children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition and need treatment as soon as possible. Its director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday: "As you know, mass starvation means starvation of a large proportion of a population, and 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. "And that's very clear, this is because of the blockade." Dr Ahmad al-Farra, the head of paediatrics at Nasser hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis, told the BBC that no food had been available for three days. He said children come to his unit going through varying degrees of starvation. Some were malnourished and died in the hospital's care, he added. Others came with separate health issues that prevented nutrients from being absorbed by their bodies. "We were afraid we would reach this critical point - and now we have," he said. The shortages of basic supplies has caused prices at local markets to skyrocket and left most families unable to afford to buy anything. "It's outrageous - prices are on fire," one Gaza resident said. "Every day we need 300 shekels ($90; £66.50) just for flour." The humanitarian organisations also noted that the UN says it has recorded the killing by the Israeli military of more than 1,050 Palestinians trying to get food since 27 May - the day after the controversial aid distribution mechanism run by the Israel- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) began operating as an alternative to the UN-led mechanism. According to the UN human rights office, 766 people have been killed in the vicinity of the GHF's four aid sites, which are located inside Israeli military zones and operated by US private security contractors. Another 288 people have been killed near UN and other aid convoys. The Israeli military says its troops deployed near the GHF sites have only fired warning shots and that they do not intentionally shoot civilians. The GHF says the UN is using "false and misleading" figures from Gaza's health ministry. The humanitarian organisations also said almost all of Gaza's population has been displaced and is now confined to less than 12% of the territory not covered by Israeli evacuation orders or within Israeli militarised zones, making aid operations untenable. And they said an average of only 28 lorry loads of aid is being distributed in Gaza each day. "Just outside Gaza, in warehouses - and even within Gaza itself - tons of food, clean water, medical supplies, shelter items and fuel sit untouched with humanitarian organisations blocked from accessing or delivering them." The UN says Israel, as the occupying power, has an obligation under international law to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches all the population in need. Israel insists it acts in accordance with international law and facilitates the entry of aid while ensuring it does not reach Hamas. It has acknowledged recently that there has been a significant drop in supplies reaching Palestinians but blamed UN agencies. Israeli military body Cogat, which co-ordinates the entry of aid into Gaza, wrote on X on Monday that almost 4,500 lorry loads had entered Gaza over the past two months, including 2,500 tonnes of baby food and high-calorie special food for children. It also published drone footage showing what it said was some of the 950 lorry loads of aid waiting to be collected by the UN and other international organisations on the Gazan side of the Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings. "The collection bottleneck remains the main obstacle to maintaining a consistent flow of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip," Cogat said. The UN has repeatedly said it struggles to get the necessary Israeli authorisation to collect incoming supplies with Gazan drivers from inside the crossing points and transport it through military zones. The ongoing hostilities, badly damaged roads, and severe fuel shortages have exacerbated problems. Criminal looting by armed gangs has also sometimes stopped operations. The UN has said a major problem in recent weeks has been that it is struggling to get commitments from the Israeli military that desperate Palestinians will not be killed while trying to collect aid from its convoys. UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told a briefing on Tuesday: "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." "This unacceptable pattern is the opposite of what facilitating humanitarian operations should look like. Absolutely no one should have to risk their lives to get food." The humanitarian organisations said it is time for governments to "take decisive action". "Demand an immediate and permanent ceasefire; lift all bureaucratic and administrative restrictions; open all land crossings; ensure access to everyone in all of Gaza; reject military-controlled distribution models; restore a principled, UN-led humanitarian response and continue to fund principled and impartial humanitarian organisations." "States must pursue concrete measures to end the siege, such as halting the transfer of weapons and ammunition," they added. Israel's foreign ministry said it categorically rejected the statement, accusing the organisations of "using Hamas's talking points". "These organisations are serving the propaganda of Hamas, using their numbers and justifying their horrors," it added. "Instead of challenging the terror organisation, they embrace it as their own." The ministry also claimed that they were "harming the chances" of a new ceasefire and hostage release deal, which Israel and Hamas are negotiating at indirect talks in Qatar. The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage. At least 59,219 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.
CBC
2 hours ago
- General
- CBC
Gaza aid worker says she's struggling to feed her family
Aid groups around the world are urging governments to restore aid distribution in Gaza, warning that the risk of mass starvation has spread across the region. Yousra Abu Sharekh, a children's charity co-ordinator, described how she's struggling to feed her own family and described the situation as 'unimaginable.'
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- Health
- The Guardian
Gaza suffering man-made mass starvation, says WHO chief
Gaza is suffering man-made mass starvation caused by the blockade of aid into the territory, the head of the World Health Organization has said, as more than 100 agencies urged Israel to let supplies in to alleviate the crisis. '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 Ghebreyesus told a virtual press conference from Geneva. 'This is because of [the] blockade.' A letter signed by 109 agencies including Doctors Without Borders, Oxfam International and Amnesty International says the Israeli government is blocking humanitarian organisations from effectively distributing life-saving aid. 'Just outside Gaza, in warehouses – and even within Gaza itself – tonnes of food, clean water, medical supplies, shelter items and fuel sit untouched with humanitarian organisations blocked from accessing or delivering them,' the agencies wrote. 'The government of Israel's restrictions, delays, and fragmentation under its total siege have created chaos, starvation, and death.' The statement quoted an aid worker in Gaza who said: 'Children tell their parents they want to go to heaven, because at least heaven has food.' Increasing numbers of people in Gaza are dying from lack of food, the result of a starvation crisis that aid groups warned for months was imminent. At least 10 people have died from starvation in the last 24 hours, bringing the toll from hunger to 111, including 80 children, Gaza's health authority said on Wednesday. Reports of people fainting from hunger on the long-walk towards the few aid distribution points and pictures of corpses with ribs jutting out have become commonplace. Daily aid distribution averages the equivalent of about 28 trucks of humanitarian goods. Before the war, about 500 trucks of aid were let into Gaza to feed its more than 2 million residents. As starvation spreads, Israeli killings of civilians has increased. One person was killed by Israel every 12 minutes in July, making it one of the deadliest months of the Gaza war, an analysis of UN data revealed. On Wednesday, Israeli strikes killed at least 21 people, more than half of them women and children, Palestinian health authorities said. The Israeli military said it was 'deepening' activity in Gaza City and north Gaza. Among the dead were two Palestinian journalists, Tamer al-Za'anin, and Walaa al-Jabari, who was pregnant, bringing the number of media workers killed in the territory to 229 since the start of the war. Israel has extended the detention of Dr Marwan al-Hams, the acting director of Gaza's field hospitals, until the end of the month, Associated Press reported. Hams was arrested earlier this week and has a gunshot wound to his leg, which he reportedly sustained during his detention. Food in Gaza is now distributed by the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), whose sites have been described by UN officials as 'death traps'. Previous Guardian reporting described the dangers faced by Palestinians seeking food from GHF sites. The GHF claims it prevents the Palestinian group Hamas from stealing food via its distribution sites, a point echoed by Israel. Humanitarians have widely condemned the organisation for what they say is a violation of aid principles and potential complicity in the war crime of weaponising starvation. UN officials report that the Israeli military has killed more than 1,000 Palestinians trying to reach food distribution sites since the end of May. Israel has killed at least 72 Palestinians in the past 24 hours, according to the Gaza health ministry. Israel also attacked World Health Organization facilities in Deir al-Balah, and cancelled the visa of the most senior UN aid official in Gaza. As Israeli military activity in Gaza intensified, momentum for a ceasefire seemed to be growing. The US envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, was heading to Rome on Wednesday, where he was expected to meet the top Israeli adviser, Ron Dermer, and Palestinian negotiators. If progress is made on the deal, Witkoff will travel to Doha, where indirect negotiations have been taking place between the two parties. Over the past week, gaps have been slowly bridged between Hamas and Israel on the ceasefire deal, though serious obstacles remain. An Israeli source said Israel was still awaiting a Hamas response, which was expected in the coming day. On 21 July, 28 countries, including the UK and other Israeli allies, issued a statement calling for an end to the war in Gaza and labelling Israel's 'denial of essential humanitarian assistance' as 'unacceptable'. The statement also spoke against Israeli settler violence in the West Bank, as well as Israeli plans to move Palestinians into a 'humanitarian city', which has been described by a former Israeli prime minister as a 'concentration camp' and tantamount to ethnic cleansing. The statement, while strongly worded, did not threaten sanctions or mention any concrete policy steps that would be taken against the Israeli government if it did not change course. Wednesday's letter from the humanitarian organisations calls for direct action. 'Piecemeal arrangements and symbolic gestures, like airdrops or flawed aid deals, serve as a smokescreen for inaction. They cannot replace states' legal and moral obligations to protect Palestinian civilians and ensure meaningful access at scale,' it says. Israel's military said that it 'views the transfer of humanitarian aid into Gaza as a matter of utmost importance', and worked to facilitate its entry in coordination with the international community. It has denied accusations it is preventing aid from reaching Gaza and has accused Hamas of stealing food, an allegation that the militant group denies. More than 59,000 people have been killed in Gaza by Israel's military campaign there, which started after the Hamas-led attack on 7 October 2023 in which about 1,200 people were killed.
Al Arabiya
3 hours ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Gaza starvation crisis and Russia-Ukraine talks
In this episode of W News Extra, presented by Jono Hayes, we discuss the ongoing starvation crisis in Gaza, the latest peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, and why Barack Obama has called President Donald Trump 'ridiculous.'
Sky News
3 hours ago
- Health
- Sky News
Gaza faces 'man-made' mass starvation due to Israeli aid blockade, World Health Organization says
The chief of the World Health Organization (WHO) has said Gaza is suffering "man-made mass starvation" because of an Israeli blockade on aid to the enclave. Director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a news conference that the population of Gaza is "facing yet another killer on top of bombs and bullets - starvation". The WHO said a "deadly surge" in malnutrition has caused the deaths of at least 21 children in 2025, but stressed this figure is likely to be the tip of the iceberg. Centres for treating malnutrition are full of patients but do not have sufficient supplies for emergency feeding, it added. In July alone, 5,100 children have so far been admitted to malnutrition programmes, said Dr Rik Peeperkorn, the WHO's representative for the occupied Palestinian territories. Some 800 of those children were severely emaciated, he said. Mr Ghebreyesus said: "I don't know what you would call it other than mass starvation, and it's man-made, and that's very clear." "This is because of [the] blockade," he continued, adding that 95% of households in Gaza are also facing severe water shortages. He said the UN and its humanitarian partners were unable to deliver any food for nearly 80 days between March and May, while an aid blockade was in place, and that the resumption of deliveries has been insufficient. There is no famine in Gaza, says Israel An Israeli government spokesperson told Sky News the food shortages have "been engineered by Hamas", before stating: "There is no famine in Gaza." Speaking on the News Hour with Mark Austin, David Mencer continued: "There is a famine of the truth and Israel will not stop telling it." He said aid is "flowing" into the enclave but Hamas "loots the trucks [and] deliberately endangers its own people". The fighters deny stealing food. Mr Mencer said Israel has allowed more than 4,400 aid trucks to enter Gaza since it lifted the blockade in May, adding that more than 700 are waiting to be picked up and distributed by the United Nations. That is an average of around 70 trucks a day, which is the lowest rate of the war and far below the 500-600 trucks a day the UN says is needed. "The problem is not Israel," he said. "The problem is Hamas." Supplies in Gaza 'totally depleted' The comments came after more than 100 aid and rights groups warned of mass starvation in Gaza on Wednesday morning - saying supplies have become "totally depleted". Large amounts of food, clean water and medical supplies are sitting untouched just outside Gaza, but the groups blamed Israel for its "restrictions", which they say is creating "chaos, starvation, and death". The situation has become so bad, aid agencies warned they were seeing even their own colleagues "waste away before their eyes". Israel, which controls all supplies entering Gaza, has denied it is responsible for shortages of food and other supplies. In a statement signed by 111 organisations, the groups said: "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. "With supplies now totally depleted, humanitarian organisations are witnessing their own colleagues and partners waste away before their eyes. "The government of Israel's restrictions, delays, and fragmentation under its total siege have created chaos, starvation, and death." The groups called for governments to demand the lifting of all restrictions and for the restoration of a "principled, UN-led humanitarian response". The Norwegian Refugee Council, which backed the statement and is one of the largest independent aid organisations in Gaza, said it has no more supplies to distribute and some of its staff are starving - and accused Israel of paralysing its work. "Our last tent, our last food parcel, our last relief items have been distributed. There is nothing left," Jan Egeland, the secretary general of the council, told the Reuters news agency. 4:10 United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres said "starvation is knocking on every door" in the Palestinian territory, describing the situation as a "horror show". Officials in the Hamas-run strip said at least 101 people are known to have died of malnutrition during the conflict in Gaza, including 80 children, most of them in recent weeks. 6:22 Some food stocks in Gaza have run out since Israel cut off all supplies in March and then lifted the blockade in May with new measures it said were needed to prevent aid from being diverted to militant groups. Israel's Foreign Ministry has accused the organisations of "echoing Hamas propaganda". The UK and several other countries have condemned the current aid delivery model, which is backed by the Israeli and American governments. Gaza deteriorating by the day - but what will be done? Analysis by Lisa Holland, in Jerusalem The urgency of the call for action by aid and human rights groups screams out from the words in the letter. It feels like the situation is deteriorating by the day – the letter comes hours after the United Nations secretary-general described aid distribution and food shortages in Gaza as a "horror show". There is certainly momentum in the demands for a ceasefire and for aid supplies backed up in neighbouring countries to be allowed into Gaza. But will it have any impact? Israel acknowledges there has been a significant drop in the amount of aid reaching Gaza. But the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation – now in charge of almost all aid distribution in Gaza – has fiercely hit back about its handling of the situation. However, Israel has given no public sign that it plans to do anything to alleviate the plight of hungry Gazans any time soon – instead shifting blame to the door of the UN. The UN used to run most aid distribution, but Israel stopped that in May claiming aid was falling into the hands of the militant group Hamas. So if there's – as yet – no sign of the aid chain being unblocked, what of the calls in the letter for a ceasefire? People say watch for movement by Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff. He is currently in Europe and if he goes on to Doha, where indirect talks are taking place between Hamas and Israel, that could signal some sort of progress towards a ceasefire. It has reportedly resulted in Israeli troops firing on Palestinian civilians in search of food on multiple occasions.
