Israel's leader claims no one in Gaza is starving; data, witnesses disagree
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says no one in Gaza is starving: "There is no policy of starvation in Gaza, and there is no starvation in Gaza. We enable humanitarian aid throughout the duration of the war to enter Gaza - otherwise, there would be no Gazans." President Donald Trump on Monday said he disagrees with Netanyahu's claim of no starvation in Gaza, noting the images emerging of emaciated people: "Those children look very hungry." After international pressure, Israel over the weekend announced humanitarian pauses, airdrops and other measures meant to allow more aid to Palestinians in Gaza. But people there say little or nothing has changed on the ground. The U.N. has described it as a one-week scale-up of aid, and Israel has not said how long these latest measures would last."This aid, delivered in this way, is an insult to the Palestinian people," said Hasan Al-Zalaan, who was at the site of an airdrop as some fought over the supplies and crushed cans of chickpeas littered the ground.Israel asserts that Hamas is the reason aid isn't reaching Palestinians in Gaza and accuses its militants of siphoning off aid to support its rule in the territory. The U.N. denies that looting of aid is systematic and that it lessens or ends entirely when enough aid is allowed to enter Gaza.
Deaths are increasing: The World Health Organization said Sunday there have been 63 malnutrition-related deaths in Gaza this month, including 24 children under the age of 5 - up from 11 deaths total the previous six months of the year.Gaza's Health Ministry puts the number even higher, reporting 82 deaths this month of malnutrition-related causes: 24 children and 58 adults. It said Monday that 14 deaths were reported in the past 24 hours. The ministry, which operates under the Hamas government, is headed by medical professionals and is seen by the U.N. as the most reliable source of data on casualties. U.N. agencies also often confirm numbers through other partners on the ground.The Patient's Friends Hospital, the main emergency center for malnourished kids in northern Gaza, says this month it saw for the first time malnutrition deaths in children who had no preexisting conditions. Some adults who died suffered from such illnesses as diabetes or had heart or kidney ailments made worse by starvation, according to Gaza medical officials.The WHO also says acute malnutrition in northern Gaza tripled this month, reaching nearly one in five children under 5 years old, and has doubled in central and southern Gaza. The U.N. says Gaza's only four specialized treatment centers for malnutrition are "overwhelmed." The leading international authority on food crises, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, has warned of famine for months in Gaza but has not formally declared one, citing the lack of data as Israel restricts access to the territory.Aid trucks are swarmed by hungry people: The measures announced by Israel late Saturday include 10-hour daily humanitarian pauses in fighting in three heavily populated areas, so that U.N. trucks can more more easily distribute food.Still, U.N. World Food Program spokesperson Martin Penner said the agency's 55 trucks of aid that entered Gaza on Monday via the crossings of Zikim and Kerem Shalom were looted by starving people before they reached WFP warehouses.Experts say that airdrops, another measure Israel announced, are insufficient for the immense need in Gaza and dangerous to people on the ground. Israel's military says 48 food packages were dropped Sunday and Monday.Palestinians say they want a full return to the U.N.-led aid distribution system that was in place throughout the war, rather than the Israeli-backed mechanism that began in May. Witnesses and health workers say Israeli forces have killed hundreds by opening fire on Palestinians trying to reach those food distribution hubs or while crowding around entering aid trucks. Israel's military says it has fired warning shots to disperse threats.The U.N. and partners say that the best way to bring food into Gaza is by truck, and they have called repeatedly for Israel to loosen restrictions on their entry. A truck carries roughly 19 tons of supplies.Israel's military says that as of July 21, 95,435 trucks of aid have entered Gaza since the war began. That's an average of 146 trucks per day, and far below the 500 to 600 trucks per day that the U.N. says are needed.The rate has sometimes been as low as half of that for several months at a time. Nothing went in for 2 1/2 months starting in March because Israel imposed a complete blockade on food, fuel and other supplies entering Gaza.Delivering aid is difficult and slow: The U.N. says that delivering the aid that is allowed into Gaza has become increasingly difficult.When aid enters, it is left just inside the border in Gaza, and the U.N. must get Israeli military permission to send trucks to pick it up. But the U.N. says the military has denied or impeded just over half the movement requests for its trucks in the past three months.
If the U.N. succeeds in picking up the aid, hungry crowds and armed gangs swarm the convoys and strip them of supplies. The Hamas-run civilian police once provided security along some routes, but that stopped after Israel targeted them with airstrikes.
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Hindustan Times
3 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Why there hasn't been a formal declaration of famine in Gaza
The leading international authority on food crises said Tuesday that the 'worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in Gaza." It predicted 'widespread death' without immediate action. Palestinians crowd a coastal path west of Beit Lahia after managing to get aid parcels on July 29, 2025, following the entry of aid trucks to the Israel-besieged Gaza Strip.(AFP) The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, said Gaza has been on the brink of famine for two years, and that recent developments, including 'increasingly stringent blockades' by Israel, have 'dramatically worsened' the situation. Even though Israel eased a 2 1/2-month blockade on the territory in May, aid groups say only a trickle of assistance is getting into the enclave and that Palestinians face catastrophic levels of hunger 21 months into the Israeli offensive launched after Hamas' Oct. 7 attack. Hundreds have been killed by Israeli forces as they try to reach aid sites or convoys, according to witnesses, health officials and the United Nations' human rights office. The military says it has only fired warning shots. The IPC warning stopped short of a formal declaration of famine. Here's why: The IPC and aid groups says Gaza's hunger crisis is worsening Also read: UK says will recognise Palestinian state unless Israel agrees to ceasefire Gaza's population of roughly 2 million Palestinians relies almost entirely on outside aid. Israel's offensive has wiped out what was already limited local food production. Israel's blockade, along with ongoing fighting and chaos inside the territory, has further limited people's access to food. The UN World Food Program says Gaza's hunger crisis has reached 'new and astonishing levels of desperation." Nearly 100,000 women and children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition, and a third of Gaza's population is going days without eating, Ross Smith, the agency's director for emergencies, said Monday. The Gaza Health Ministry says there have been 82 malnutrition-related deaths in Gaza this month, including 24 children. It did not give their exact cause of death. The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, is staffed by medical professionals and its figures on war deaths are seen by the UN and other experts as the most reliable estimate of casualties. Famine occurs when these conditions are met The IPC was first set up in 2004 during the famine in Somalia. It includes more than a dozen UN agencies, aid groups, governments and other bodies. Famine can appear in pockets — sometimes small ones — and a formal classification requires caution. The IPC has only declared famine a few times — in Somalia in 2011, and South Sudan in 2017 and 2020, and last year in parts of Sudan's western Darfur region. Tens of thousands are believed to have died in Somalia and South Sudan. It rates an area as in famine when all three of these conditions are confirmed: — 20% of households have an extreme lack of food, or are essentially starving. — At least 30% of children 6 months to 5 years old suffer from acute malnutrition, based on a weight-to-height measurement; or 15% of that age group suffer from acute malnutrition based on the circumference of their upper arm. — At least two people, or four children under 5, per 10,000 are dying daily due to starvation or the interaction of malnutrition and disease. Gaza poses a major challenge for experts because Israel severely limits access to the territory, making it difficult and in some cases impossible to gather data. The IPC said Tuesday that data indicate famine thresholds have been reached for food consumption in most of Gaza, and for acute malnutrition in Gaza City. Famine declarations usually come from the UN or governments While the IPC says it is the 'primary mechanism' used by the international community to conclude whether a famine is happening or projected, it typically doesn't make such a declaration itself. Often, UN officials together with governments will make a formal statement based on an analysis from the IPC. But the IPC says once a famine is declared it's already too late. While it can prevent further deaths, it means many people will have died by the time a famine is declared. It's not always clear that hunger is the cause of death Most cases of severe malnutrition in children arise through a combination of lack of nutrients along with an infection, leading to diarrhea and other symptoms that cause dehydration, said Alex de Waal, author of 'Mass Starvation: The History and Future of Famine' and executive director of the World Peace Foundation. 'There are no standard guidelines for physicians to classify cause of death as 'malnutrition' as opposed to infection," he said. When famine occurs, there are often relatively few deaths from hunger alone. Far more people die from a combination of malnutrition, disease and other forms of deprivation. All of these count as excess deaths — separate from violence — that can be attributed to a food crisis or famine, he said. The war has made it hard to get accurate information Israel's offensive has gutted Gaza's health system and displaced some 90% of its population. With hospitals damaged and overwhelmed by war casualties, it can be difficult to screen people for malnutrition and collect precise data on deaths. 'Data and surveillance systems are incomplete and eroded," said James Smith, an emergency doctor and lecturer in humanitarian policy at the University College London who spent more than two months in Gaza. 'Which means that all health indicators — and the death toll — are known to be an underestimation,' he said. Even when famine is declared, the response can be lacking A declaration of famine should in theory galvanize the international community to rush food to those who need it. But with aid budgets already stretched, and war and politics throwing up obstacles, that doesn't always happen. 'There is not a big, huge bank account' to draw on, said OCHA's Laerke. 'The fundamental problem is that we build the fire engine as we respond.' Aid groups say plenty of food and other aid has been gathered on Gaza's borders, but Israel is allowing only a small amount to enter. Within Gaza, gunfire, chaos and looting have plagued the distribution of food. The international pressure led Israel to announce new measures over the weekend, including daily humanitarian pauses in fighting in parts of Gaza and airdrops of food. Israel says there's no limit on how many aid trucks can enter Gaza. UN agencies say Israeli restrictions, and the breakdown of law and order, make it difficult to distribute the food that does come in. 'Only a massive scale-up in food aid distributions can stabilize this spiraling situation, calm anxieties and rebuild the trust within communities that more food is coming,' the World Food Program said. 'An agreed ceasefire is long overdue.'
Mint
4 hours ago
- Mint
Gaza Famine Risk Grows as UN Warns Time Running Out for Help
(Bloomberg) -- Famine conditions in Gaza are worsening as time runs out to mount a full-scale humanitarian response, United Nations agencies warned, amid growing international outcry over the crisis. Food consumption and nutrition measures reached their worst levels since the conflict began, the World Food Programme and Unicef said in a report. That means two out of three official famine thresholds have been breached. Pressure is mounting on Western governments to push Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to step up efforts to address the crisis as worries of massive starvation grow. Israel started restricting fresh aid shipments into the territory in March when it resumed its military campaign, and while it established a new system of supply distribution, that has been hit by problems. Israel over the weekend increased aid distribution, but German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and US President Donald Trump have called for more supplies to reach those at risk of starvation. Trump, a staunch defender of Israel, this week said he did not agree with Netanyahu's assertion that there is no starvation in Gaza and floated setting up 'food centers' to alleviate the situation in the territory. 'Whether they talk starvation or not, those are kids that are starving,' Trump told reporters on Tuesday. He added that Israel wanted to oversee the proposed food centers. 'They want to preside over the food centers to make sure the distribution is proper,' he said. 'The unbearable suffering of the people of Gaza is already clear for the world to see,' WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain said in the report. 'Waiting for official confirmation of famine to provide life-saving food aid they desperately need is unconscionable.' Food consumption in Gaza has plunged since May, with 39% of people now going days without eating, the report from the agencies showed. More than 500,000 people, or almost a quarter of the population, are enduring famine-like conditions, and acute malnutrition has risen at an unprecedented rate. Acute malnutrition and reports of starvation-related deaths — the third core famine indicator — are increasingly common. However, collecting robust data in Gaza is very difficult as health systems are collapsing, according to the report. 'We need to flood Gaza with large-scale food aid, immediately and without obstruction, and keep it flowing each and every day to prevent mass starvation,' McCain said. 'The longer we wait to act, the higher the death toll will rise.' --With assistance from Skylar Woodhouse and Meghashyam Mali. (Updates to add Trump remarks in starting in fifth paragraph.) More stories like this are available on
NDTV
5 hours ago
- NDTV
Explained: What Needs To Be Done To Reverse Famine Crisis In Gaza?
Geneva: A global hunger monitor said on Tuesday that a famine scenario was unfolding in the Gaza Strip, with malnutrition soaring, children under five dying of hunger-related causes and humanitarian access severely restricted. We examine what needs to be done to reverse the crisis. WHAT IS BEING SENT IN AND HOW? Israel said on Sunday it would halt military operations for 10 hours a day in parts of Gaza and designate secure routes for convoys delivering food and medicine between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, says 500-600 trucks a day are needed to prevent more of the 2.1 million population people starving. Since the announcement, over 100 truckloads of aid have been transported into Gaza, according to the UN. The World Food Program said that only half of the 100 trucks it hoped to get in daily had been allowed in, and it had not been able to reopen the lifeline bakeries and community kitchens that closed in May due to shortages. TREATING ACUTE MALNUTRITION More than 20,000 children were admitted to hospital with severe malnutrition between April and mid-July, according to the hunger monitor, Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC). The UN children's charity UNICEF is focusing on urgent delivery of Ready-To-Use-Therapeutic-Foods, including dense peanut paste and high-energy biscuits, which the acutely malnourished require before they can start eating normal food. Babies under six months need a therapeutic formula that works similarly to the paste. UNICEF says these special foods are set to run out by mid-August. Malnourished children often suffer complications that require antibiotics - something else that the WHO says is running out. Acutely malnourished children can usually recover within 8-10 weeks, experts say. For children under 2, who may have been malnourished during critical brain development, full recovery is harder to achieve. In all cases, long-term access to nutritious foods such as fruit, vegetables and meat is essential for full recovery, requiring commercial supplies to resume, UNICEF says. AID BOXES AND AIRDROPS The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a private US- and Israeli-backed group, said it has distributed over 96 million meals since late May, in boxes of staples such as rice, flour, pasta, tuna, beans, biscuits and cooking oil. However, most of these need to be cooked, and the IPC report noted that clean water and fuel are largely unavailable in Gaza. Israel says it will allow airdrops of food, and Jordan and the United Arab Emirates parachuted 25 tons into Gaza on Sunday. Yet it is widely acknowledged that the only effective way to meet Gaza's needs is by truck. Airdrops are many times more expensive and UNICEF notes they feed the first to arrive, not those in most need. DANGERS IN DISTRIBUTION Ways must be found to get aid safely to the right recipients. UN data gathered between May 19, when Israel lifted its blockade, and July 25 shows that only about one in eight of the 2,010 truckloads of relief collected from crossing points under the UN-led aid operation reached its destination. The rest were looted, "either peacefully by hungry people or forcefully by armed actors during transit". An internal US government analysis found no evidence of systematic theft by the Palestinian operative group Hamas of US-funded humanitarian supplies, and the UN refuses to cooperate with GHF, Israel's chosen aid provider. But deliveries by the GHF have, if anything, been more dangerous. The UN estimates that Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 people seeking food supplies, most of them near the militarised distribution sites of the GHF, which employs a US logistics firm run by a former CIA officer and armed US veterans. GHF denies that there have been deadly incidents at its sites, and says the deadliest have been near other aid convoys. The Israeli military has acknowledged that civilians have been harmed by its gunfire near distribution centres, and says its forces have now received better instructions.
