KEY POINTS
- UN-backed experts warn famine is now occurring in Gaza, with urgent calls for humanitarian aid.
- Israeli attacks have killed over 60,000 Palestinians since October 2023 in Gaza.
- Over 20,000 children treated for acute malnutrition; at least 16 have died of hunger since mid-July.
- Israel is allowing limited aid truck entry amid daily “tactical pauses”.
- Israeli air raids killed 30 people in Nuseirat refugee camp, including women and children.
- Israel vows to continue operations until Hamas is dismantled.
GAZA CITY, Palestine: Famine is now “unfolding in Gaza”, UN-backed experts warned on Tuesday, as the Palestinian death toll from nearly 22 months of Israeli military operations surpassed 60,000.
Despite mounting international pressure and a deepening humanitarian crisis, Israel has resisted calls for a ceasefire, vowing to continue military operations until Hamas is dismantled.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative (IPC), a UN-backed group that monitors global hunger, said famine thresholds have been reached across much of Gaza.
“The worst-case scenario of famine is now unfolding in the Gaza Strip,” IPC said in a statement, calling for “immediate, unimpeded” humanitarian access to avert further starvation and death.
The warning came as Gaza’s Health Ministry reported that 60,034 Palestinians have been killed since October 7, 2023, with 145,870 others wounded.
The figures do not include those who have died from hunger or disease, or those still trapped beneath the rubble of flattened neighbourhoods.
Widespread starvation
According to the IPC, more than 20,000 children have been treated for acute malnutrition between April and mid-July, with over 3,000 categorised as severely malnourished. At least 16 children under the age of five have died of hunger since 17 July.
“Mounting evidence shows that widespread starvation, malnutrition, and disease are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths,” the IPC said.
Air drops of aid by Jordan and the UAE have proven insufficient, it added, warning that without ground access, “widespread death in much of the Strip” is imminent.
The World Food Programme’s emergency director, Ross Smith, compared the crisis to some of the most severe famines of the past century.
“This is unlike anything we have seen in this century. It reminds us of Ethiopia and Biafra,” Smith said from Rome, urging urgent international action.
Israel imposed a complete blockade on Gaza on March 2 after ceasefire talks collapsed. While limited aid began to flow again in late May, humanitarian agencies say it is far from adequate to meet the needs of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents.
On Sunday, Israel announced a daily “tactical pause” in military operations in parts of Gaza to allow aid deliveries.
The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), Israel’s civil liaison body, said more than 200 truckloads of aid were distributed by UN agencies on Monday, with an additional 260 trucks permitted entry.
Aid drops from Jordan and the UAE also continued.
Israeli strikes kill 30
However, Israel continued military operations across the besieged Gaza Strip.
Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli air strikes killed at least 30 people overnight in the Nuseirat refugee camp, including women and children.
“The bodies of 30 martyrs, including 14 women and 12 children, were brought to Al-Awda hospital,” the hospital said.
Israel’s military did not confirm the strikes, saying it needed more information.
In Jerusalem, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar dismissed international criticism. “If we halt the conflict while Hamas is still in power and holding hostages, it would be a tragedy for both Israelis and Palestinians,” he told reporters.
“It ain’t gonna happen, no matter how much pressure is put on Israel.”
The war began after Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli officials.
In response, Israel launched a wide-scale military campaign that has flattened entire neighbourhoods in Gaza and displaced the vast majority of its population.
Israel says its offensive is aimed at dismantling Hamas’ military infrastructure and freeing the remaining hostages.
It claims to have killed thousands of Hamas fighters and destroyed hundreds of kilometres of tunnels used by the Palestinian fighters.
But aid agencies say the cost to civilians has been catastrophic. UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, said its staff, doctors, and humanitarian workers were fainting on duty due to hunger and exhaustion.
The most recent round of indirect ceasefire talks in Doha broke down last week with no agreement.
Global community has pleaded for a sustained ceasefire to facilitate the delivery of life-saving aid and prevent what they warn could be a humanitarian catastrophe of historic proportions.
