Gaza’s government media office warned on Sunday of a looming famine in northern Gaza amid Israel’s closure of the Strip’s crossings.
“The humanitarian crisis is deepening in Gaza…as Israel continues to tighten its blockade on the entire enclave,” the media office said in a statement.
The statement said that less than 100 aid trucks entered the besieged enclave via a US-built pier on Gaza’s coast over the past week.
“Only 214 trucks were allowed into northern Gaza last week via a point (established by the Israeli army) west of Beit Lahia, including 109 loaded with flour, and only 6 medicine trucks,” it added.
The media office appealed to the international community to pressure Israel “to allow the entry of aid convoys via land crossings such as Rafah and Kerem Shalom.”
‘Running Out of Words’
UN officials have repeatedly warned that the Gaza Strip faces another precipice of further catastrophe in the enclave amid stalled negotiations for a ceasefire, saying they have run out of words to describe the situation.
“The situation is becoming increasingly desperate and dangerous for the already besieged population,” the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, told a UN Security Council session on May 20.
‘Running Out of Words to Describe Gaza’ – UN Officials Urge Ceasefire
“Regrettably we face yet another precipice of further catastrophe in Gaza amid stalled talks between the parties to secure the release of all hostages held in Gaza and a ceasefire to provide much needed relief to the civilian population,” Wesseland stressed.
He highlighted that “just two weeks ago” negotiations were ongoing in Cairo, but “ended on 9 May without agreement.”
Gaza Genocide
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 35,984 Palestinians have been killed, and 80,643 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.
Moreover, at least 7,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
