UN: One in Three Gazans Endure Days Without Food

UN: One in Three Gazans Endure Days Without Food

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The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) issued a warning on Saturday that nearly a third of the population in the besieged Gaza Strip is going days without food, and that the levels of malnutrition among women and children are alarming.

Malnutrition is “surging,” according to an urgent warning from the World Food Program, and at least 90,000 women and children need immediate medical attention.

The Hamas-run health ministry said Friday that nine more people had died from malnutrition, bringing the total number of deaths since the war started in October to 122. The humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave has rapidly deteriorated in recent weeks.

Israel, which controls all points of entry for aid into Gaza, continues to deny responsibility despite the situation getting worse. It insists that humanitarian supplies are unrestricted and refers to the lack of relief for Hamas.

The United Kingdom said Friday it would join airdrop attempts to send aid into Gaza as pressure builds globally. In a statement that appeared in The Mirror, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer stated that the country would do “everything we can to get aid in via this route.” He also stated that the country is “urgently accelerating efforts” to transfer critically ill children for medical treatment.

The action comes as rumors circulated that Israel could soon permit humanitarian airdrops. Airdrops, however, have long been criticized by aid organizations as an ineffective and possibly hazardous method of distributing aid. Jordan’s military has not yet gotten Israeli approval to move forward with scheduled airdrops, a senior official informed the BBC.

Meanwhile, the UN called for a significant relaxation of aid restrictions and dismissed the planned airdrops as a “distraction to inaction.” During his speech to the global assembly of Amnesty International, UN Secretary-General António Guterres declared, “It is unacceptable to deny the civilian population vital humanitarian assistance.”

Additionally, Guterres condemned what he called the “indifference and inaction” of a large portion of the international community. More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed since May 27 trying to get food from the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which has attempted to elude the conventional UN-led relief system, he added, using UN and human rights group numbers.

A former US security contractor who collaborated with the GHF in Gaza earlier this year made fresh accusations on Friday. Anthony Aguilar told the BBC that he had “witnessed war crimes,” such as the deployment of mortar rounds, live ammunition, and tank fire on people at food delivery locations. “In my career, I have never witnessed such indiscriminate force and brutality,” retired soldier Aguilar remarked.

Claiming that the accusations were “categorically false,” the GHF refuted them and blamed them on a “disgruntled former contractor who was terminated for misconduct.”

The humanitarian disaster is becoming worse while ceasefire talks are failing. According to reports, US and Israeli negotiators left the Qatari negotiations this week, claiming that Hamas was not cooperating. “I think they [Hamas] want to die,” US President Donald Trump stated in a statement on Friday. They had no real desire to strike a deal.

The comments surprised Hamas officials, who stated they were told that negotiations had not broken down and that Israeli negotiators would be returning to Doha the following week.

Following the October 7 Hamas-led invasion on southern Israel that claimed 1,200 Israeli lives and resulted in the seizure of 251 captives, Israel began its offensive in Gaza. Since then, the health ministry, which is run by Hamas, has reported that over 59,000 people have died in Gaza.

Early in March, Israel imposed a total blockade on Gaza, which it later partially lifted in response to growing international pressure.

Basic necessities are still in short supply, though, as the majority of Gaza’s population has been displaced several times and over 90% of its homes have been reported damaged or destroyed.

Israel and its main backer, the United States, criticized France’s announcement that it would formally recognize a Palestinian state in September in the midst of these developments. A day later, a letter calling on the British government to do the same was signed by more than one-third of the country’s lawmakers. Prime Minister Starmer did, however, imply that official recognition would only be granted as a component of a larger plan that would result in a two-state solution.

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Syed Sadat Hussain Shah

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