Latest news with #starvation
Washington Post
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
Gaza airdrops deliver a fraction of what trucks could, aid groups warn
Of the scant paths for food aid to reach Gazans facing starvation, one is particularly ineffective, aid groups warn: dropping pallets of food from planes. Airdrops, tried briefly by the United States and others in March of last year, resumed over the weekend, amid a starvation crisis that the world's leading hunger monitor said this week had 'worsened dramatically' to the point of famine. Israel made an initial drop Saturday, followed by aid flights from other countries in the region, including Jordan, amid mounting international criticism over the impact of Israeli policies in Gaza. Israel also said it would facilitate more deliveries of food by trucks, open secure corridors and pause fighting each day in certain areas to allow aid to increase. As aid groups scramble to try to meet the needs of Gazans, they warn that airdrops, while better than no aid at all, should not be seen as a solution. 'While we welcome any effort to get aid to desperate civilians in Gaza, we know that airdrops are very expensive, often ineffective and not sustainable,' said Katy Crosby, senior director for policy and advocacy for the international aid group Mercy Corps. David Miliband, the head of the International Rescue Committee, a humanitarian relief organization, and Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, among others, say the way to get aid to Gaza is clear: Open land crossings to allow in a high volume of trucks and allow aid groups unfettered humanitarian access to reach Gazans in need. UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, had the equivalent of 6,000 trucks in Jordan and Egypt waiting to be allowed into Gaza as of Saturday, Lazzarini said in a statement posted to X. Israel's military says it does not limit trucks entering Gaza. Israel accuses Hamas of corrupting the long-standing U.N.-coordinated system of aid delivery by systematically stealing and looting. It also says humanitarian groups have failed to collect and distribute the aid — charges they deny. Before the war, the Gaza Strip depended on about 500 truckloads of aid per day, under strict regulations imposed by Israel and Egypt. After the war in Gaza began in response to the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, the number of trucks fluctuated but steeply declined overall, with many days seeing only a few dozen, and with Israel controlling major parts of the aid delivery process. Aid groups report onerous inspections, limited land entry points and faulty deconfliction channels. Despite the struggle to deliver aid by other methods, airdrops are 'considered an absolute last resort' in the humanitarian community — used when there are 'actual geographic barriers' such as flooding and earthquakes that block roads, said Crosby, of Mercy Corps. Airdrops, which are not precision-guided, can easily go astray, she said. In Gaza, one of the most densely populated areas in the world, the risks are particularly high. People can be crushed by the pallets of food, which weigh more than 1,000 pounds, or they can chase off-course boxes into dangerous areas. 'You are essentially having to run after a parachute, to put it bluntly,' Crosby said. Once dropped goods reach the ground, there is nobody standing by to organize distribution. Desperate people may rush to collect food, while the most vulnerable — children, women, the elderly and disabled people — often struggle to get it. 'Airdrops are not a solution. They really are theater, it's theatrics,' said Bushra Khalidi, the policy lead for the aid group Oxfam in the Palestinian territories. Lazzarini echoed that view, calling them a 'distraction.' The Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the branch of the Israeli military that handles civil affairs in the occupied territories, did not respond immediately to a request to comment on the criticism of airdrops. Humanitarian groups have long raised alarms of a looming famine in Gaza. More than 147 people, including 88 children, have died of malnutrition, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. After imposing an 11-week total block on all food and medicine entering Gaza in March, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his decision to ease restrictions was in part an effort to placate international allies. The U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a new organization with opaque origins and funding sources, has in recent months taken over the distribution of aid in areas controlled by the Israeli military. Hundreds of civilians have been shot dead in the crush to enter these distribution sites, many of them allegedly felled by Israeli soldiers positioned nearby. Israel says its forces fired warning shots. The recent airdrops are a return to a method tried earlier in the war. The United States under President Joe Biden joined the effort to drop aid to Gaza early last year. Military aircraft — from the U.S., Jordan, Britain and others — flew and dropped crates wrapped in protective plastic and fitted with shock-absorbing bases. Within six weeks early last year, Britain made 11 airdrops carrying a total of 121 tons of aid from 120 parachutes — about 11 tons per drop. In an announcement at the time, then-Foreign Secretary David Cameron said: 'It is only by land that we will be able to transport the full amount of humanitarian assistance needed.' In that initial wave, the airdrops came under criticism from rights groups as inefficient — and even deadly. Five people were killed by a crate of aid whose parachute malfunctioned in March 2024, and 12 Gazans drowned when they tried to reach airdropped boxes that landed in the sea, Gaza health authorities said. The U.N.'s Lazzarini said that driving aid into the territory is easier, more effective, cheaper and safer. It's also 'more dignified' for the people of Gaza, he said. Some criticism has come from inside Gaza as well. Renad Attallah, an 11-year-old in Gaza with a large online following, posted on Instagram: 'I want to tell you that airdropping aid is an ineffective and humiliating method. … Just because we are being starved doesn't mean we should accept humiliation.'
Washington Post
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
The Latest: Trump offers no details about improving food distribution in Israeli-controlled Gaza
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the U.S. will partner with Israel to run new food centers in Gaza to address the worsening humanitarian crisis there , but few details have been offered amid a growing outcry at home and abroad to do more to address starvation in Gaza. Trump said during his return from golfing in Scotland that Israel must 'make sure the distribution is proper.'
The Sun
2 hours ago
- Politics
- The Sun
Shock moment gun-toting terrorists loot Gaza aid truck as 22 Arab states urge Hamas to SURRENDER in unprecedented plea
THIS shocking footage released by the Israeli military appears to show gun-toting Hamas militants looting an aid truck in Gaza. The video clip shared on social media by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) depicts armed gunmen on top of an aid truck as civilians stand around waiting for food. 7 7 7 The two men standing on top of the truck brandish their weapons as Gazans gather in the hope of receiving aid. One of them points his weapon down towards the crowd. An IDF spokesperson captioned the video saying: "Footage from just four days ago shows Hamas terrorists looting an aid truck, this is the same organization spreading false claims about a deliberate starvation campaign in Gaza." It comes as the humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to worsen, with the United Nations warning of a serious famine. The crisis is now so widespread across Gaza that it can now be seen from space. Satellite footage shows thousands of starving Palestinians crowding around aid trucks begging for food. A British and EU drive to end the war in Gaza was backed by 22 Arab states - which called on Hamas terrorists to surrender for the first time on Wednesday. Arab and Muslim countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan and Turkey, signed a declaration condemning the October 7 attacks in a groundbreaking move. The statement also called on Hamas to free all hostages, lay down its arms and withdraw from its blood-soaked coastal stronghold. The dramatic move was backed by all EU states plus 17 more nations which called for a two-state solution to end bloodshed across the Middle East. Harrowing moment desperate Gazans overrun food trucks as Israel challenges UN to ship in more aid after pausing fighting Sir Keir Starmer backed the move warning Israel the UK would formally recognise a new Palestinian state unless fighting ceased in September. But critics said the move would only encourage Hamas to dig in and hold out for the major concession from the UK. And Israel accused Starmer of "rewarding" October 7 terrorists. Israel has faced widespread criticism from foreign governments and international bodies over the mounting humanitarian emergency in Gaza. Gaza's population of 2.3 million currently faces the verge of famine. At least 63 people, including 24 children under five, died from hunger in July, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). But Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has called allegations that his country is conducting a starvation campaign in the territory a "bold faced lie". However, a global body responsible for monitoring hunger has warned Gazans now face the "worst-case scenario of famine". The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification said: "Mounting evidence shows that widespread starvation, malnutrition, and disease are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths." Earlier in the month, 20 people died at an aid distribution site in Gaza following a "chaotic and dangerous" crowd surge. Donald Trump claims he did not discuss the UK's move towards recognition of Palestine when he met Sir Keir on Monday. Speaking on board Air Force One, the US president said: "We never did discuss it.' But Sir Keir told ministers the humanitarian situation in Gaza is now "increasingly intolerable". 7 7
Arab News
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Marjorie Taylor Greene says Gaza experiencing ‘genocide' in Republican first
LONDON: Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has described Israel's war in Gaza as a 'genocide,' becoming the first lawmaker from her party to do so. It came in a social media post following comments by US President Donald Trump that contradicted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's claim that there is no starvation in Gaza. Greene was responding to comments by Rep. Randy Fine, a Jew and one of Israel's strongest supporters in the US Congress, The Independent reported. Fine had said on X: 'Release the hostages. Until then, starve away. (This is all a lie anyway. It amazes me that the media continues to regurgitate Muslim terror propaganda.)' Greene responded: 'I can only imagine how Florida's sixth district feels now that their representative, that they were told to vote for, openly calls for starving innocent people and children. 'It's the most truthful and easiest thing to say that Oct. 7 in Israel was horrific and all hostages must be returned, but so is the genocide, humanitarian crisis and starvation happening in Gaza. 'But a Jewish US representative calling for the continued starvation of innocent people and children is disgraceful.' Her social media spat with Fine followed Trump's contradiction of Netanyahu, who said on Sunday: 'There is no policy of starvation in Gaza and there is no starvation in Gaza.' Trump, while visiting the UK to meet Prime Minister Keir Starmer this week, said the Palestinian enclave is suffering from 'real starvation.' Palestinian children in Gaza 'look very hungry,' he added, saying the US would work with other countries to provide assistance to the enclave.
Washington Post
3 hours ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
Egypt can provide a way out of the Gaza nightmare
Ezzedine C. Fishere is a distinguished fellow at Dartmouth College and a former Egyptian and U.N. diplomat. As images and reports of starvation accumulate, ceasefire negotiations come and go, and the international community convenes conferences and issues statements that quickly dissolve into irrelevance, Gaza's future remains suspended between a real threat of annihilation and the illusion of perpetual armed resistance.
