As the war of starvation continues, coinciding with the devastating Israeli aggression on Gaza, warnings from international and international humanitarian bodies continue about the expansion of the famine and its threat to the lives of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip, especially with the recording of more deaths resulting from malnutrition and loss of food supplies.

In an interview with Al Jazeera, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Michael Fakhri, accused Israel of deliberately bombing humanitarian convoys in Gaza despite knowing their routes. He pointed out that the Israeli occupation does not want any aid to reach those in need, and that it is waging a clear war of starvation. Fakhri called for imposing sanctions on Israel for ignoring the decisions of the International Court of Justice. He wondered why Washington dropped aid by air despite the chaos it caused?

United Nations experts also accused Israel of carrying out a starvation campaign in the Gaza Strip, and called on it to stop it immediately. Experts confirmed that Israel has been deliberately starving the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip since October 8.

They pointed out that Israel is targeting civilians searching for humanitarian aid and relief convoys, and called on it to put an end to what they said was a campaign of starvation and targeting of civilians in the Gaza Strip.

The experts said that Israel does not respect its international legal obligations, does not comply with the interim measures of the International Court of Justice, and commits brutal crimes. The UN experts warned against using humanitarian aid as a bargaining chip in negotiations to stop the war.

For his part, the spokesman for the Secretary-General of the United Nations said that the enormous needs for food and medicine in Gaza make what reaches the Strip very limited. The regional spokesman for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Salim Owais, said that children in the Gaza Strip are paying the highest price for the war. In an interview with Al Jazeera, Owais called for urgent international action, noting that what is happening in Gaza is a test of human conscience.

For her part, Oxfam spokeswoman Fatouma Sheda told Al Jazeera that, in light of the catastrophic situation in the Gaza Strip, dropping aid by air does not represent a solution, and called for opening the crossings and delivering aid to northern Gaza.

Sheda accused Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war, adding, "Unfortunately, the people of Gaza are suffering from hunger."

The direct targeting of civilians seeking humanitarian assistance is an ongoing pattern, as we have seen today and last week. The situation is dangerous for the 90 percent of the Strip’s population who suffer from high levels of food insecurity.”

Famine statistics

According to the latest statistics on famine in the Gaza Strip after the Israeli war approached its sixth month, the entire population of the Strip - numbering 2.4 million - faces “crisis or worse” levels of food insecurity, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

576,000 people, a quarter of the Gaza Strip's population, face catastrophic levels of food shortages, according to the United Nations.

One in every 6 children under the age of two suffers from acute malnutrition in northern Gaza, according to the World Health Organization.

The final statement of the FAO meeting expressed deep concern about the catastrophic conditions of the population in Gaza, which may lead to famine.

Abdul Hakim Al-Waer, Regional Representative and Assistant Director-General of FAO, said in an interview with Al Jazeera that most of the population in the Gaza Strip is currently considered to be in the fourth and fifth stages of the classification of food security stages, meaning that they are between the stages of disaster and famine.

The Assistant Director-General of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO, added that almost all children and women in Gaza are malnourished due to a lack of supplies and nutrients, especially proteins.

For his part, Dr. Jadallah Al-Shafi’i, head of the nursing department at Al-Shifa Medical Complex, said that the situation in Gaza is catastrophic. He added in an interview with Al Jazeera that the war being waged on Gaza is unprecedented, noting the death of many patients due to famine.

In the Gaza Strip, 16 children died of starvation in one day, as a result of malnutrition, dehydration, and lack of medicine, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

The government media office in Gaza said that a thousand trucks daily are required to enter all governorates, especially the northern Gaza Strip, to stop the genocidal war, according to the office’s statement.

American options for aid

In light of these catastrophic humanitarian developments, White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby said that Washington is considering a number of military and commercial options to transport aid to Gaza by sea. In a press conference, Kirby urged Israel to open more crossings and increase the number of aid trucks arriving in Gaza.

Kirby added that the US Department of Defense (the Pentagon) carried out another airdrop of humanitarian aid to Gaza on Tuesday morning, with several Jordanian aircraft joining these efforts.

In the context of options, NBC quoted an American official as saying that the Biden administration is considering other options for transporting aid to Gaza, including the possibility of building a floating dock or a temporary bridge off the coast of the Strip to enable ships to deliver humanitarian supplies.

The US Central Command said earlier that it and the Royal Jordanian Air Force carried out a joint airdrop of humanitarian aid in northern Gaza.

A statement from the Central Command stated that C-130 aircraft participated in the aid landing operation, which included more than 36,000 meals. Directed to civilians in the northern Gaza Strip. The statement added that the Pentagon continues to plan to carry out additional operations, noting that airdrops of humanitarian aid contribute to the ongoing efforts made by the United States and the governments of partner countries to provide assistance to the residents of Gaza.

For its part, the Jordanian army said that it carried out 8 joint air landings with friendly and sister countries, which it described as the largest since the start of the landing operations.

In this context, Israeli media said that some of the humanitarian aid that was airdropped to northern Gaza yesterday, Tuesday, did not reach its destination and landed on Zikim Beach in southern Israel.

Residents in the northern Gaza Strip are finding it difficult to obtain food and drinking water, in light of the continued Israeli bombing and the prevention of the entry of aid.

On their way to get some food to satisfy their needs, Palestinian citizens who were waiting for aid at the Kuwait Roundabout, east of Gaza City, documented that the occupation forces targeted - with shells and live bullets - the people while they were standing in queues to receive aid, which led to martyrs and wounded.