Aid organizations hold Israel responsible for "mass starvation" in Gaza

More than 100 aid agencies and human rights organizations, including Save the Children and Doctors Without Borders, warned on Wednesday of a "mass famine" spreading across Gaza, intensifying calls for Israel to lift restrictions on humanitarian aid to the stricken territory.

The joint statement is the latest attempt to draw attention to the worsening hunger crisis in Gaza. It came after the European Union and at least 28 governments, including Israeli allies such as the UK, France, and Canada, condemned the "intermittent distribution of aid" on Monday, saying that civilian suffering had "reached unprecedented levels."

Doctors Without Borders in Gaza reported a "sharp and unprecedented rise in acute malnutrition." The aid group said in its statement that adults are often collapsing from starvation, adding that food stocks and other supplies stored outside the Strip are being prevented from reaching those in need. The Gaza Health Ministry said Wednesday that hospitals recorded 10 deaths from starvation or malnutrition in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of deaths from hunger since Saturday to 43, according to the New York Times on Wednesday afternoon.

Health experts say deaths from malnutrition are often underestimated, because patients suffering from severe hunger often die from other causes, such as diarrhea or viral infections, that their bodies are too weak to resist.

The United Nations World Food Programme said this week that nearly a third of Gaza's 2.1 million population has gone without food for several days in a row. "People are dying from a lack of humanitarian aid," the statement said.

Israel completely blocked the delivery of aid between March 2 and May 26, when the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an Israeli-American organization, began operating a new system in which people were directed to four crossings controlled by the Israeli occupation army, which has killed more than 1,000 civilians at these crossings, with the participation of American mercenaries contracted by the GHF since the program began in late May.

The United States and Israel reject these accusations, which stem from reports by eyewitnesses, journalists, humanitarian watchdogs, and even Israeli sources.

In response to a question from a Quds correspondent on this point, US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said on Tuesday that the existing aid system aims to "prevent Hamas from stealing relief supplies," without presenting or citing any evidence that Hamas has stolen relief supplies in the past.

Israel also claimed that the UN was to blame for its failure to distribute supplies already in Gaza. On Tuesday, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the Israeli government agency that oversees policy in Gaza and the West Bank, announced that approximately 4,500 aid trucks had recently entered the Strip, carrying flour and 2,500 tons of baby food and high-calorie foods.

The United Nations noted that insecurity and restrictions imposed by the Israeli military often make it impossible to deliver food into Gaza. It added that approximately 500 trucks of aid and commercial supplies were delivered to Gaza daily before the war, but that number dropped sharply after the conflict began and has declined even further since Israel broke the truce on March 18.

The Trump administration says its immediate priority is to secure a new ceasefire, given the increased amount of aid entering Gaza during the previous truce.

US State Department spokeswoman Bruce told reporters on Tuesday that the administration's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, was on his way to the Middle East for talks on the war. She added that Witkoff wanted to achieve a ceasefire and a "humanitarian corridor for the flow of aid." The Israeli Foreign Ministry said that by issuing this statement, the aid organizations were hindering the chances of reaching a new ceasefire to end the war, which began when Hamas launched a deadly raid on Israel on October 7, 2023.

"These organizations serve Hamas' propaganda, using their numbers and justifying their horrors, instead of challenging the terrorist organization," the Israeli occupation authorities claimed in a statement on social media.

The organizations signing the statement, which also included CARE, Christian Aid, and Amnesty International, added that the UN-led system that previously managed aid to Gaza had succeeded but had been "prevented from functioning." They added that only 28 aid trucks are now being distributed in Gaza daily.

The organizations added that their staff in Gaza, whose mission is to provide support to civilians, are suffering from such extreme hunger that they risk their lives by joining food queues.

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