CT Palestine supporters call for end to starvation of people in Gaza
Various activist groups held a peaceful demonstration on the Sea Point Promenade on Sunday, where over one hundred citizens took part in a solidarity walk to end the starvation.
They banged empty pots and pans to highlight the call to end hunger.
The United Nations has reported that nearly half a million Palestinians are facing famine-like conditions, and a third of the population goes days without eating.
Dr Feroza Amien of Healthcare Workers for Palestine said more needs to be done to stop the starvation.
'Children are now dying from malnutrition, which is completely preventable, and it's appalling, so wherever we can, whenever we can, we try and get everyone to the streets, shouting as loud as they can for Israel to stop this madness.'
Megan Choritz of South African Jews for a Free Palestine said they are filled with grief and rage.
'We cannot believe that 2 million people are starving, those [who] have survived and are not dead already. Gazan Palestinian Bisan Owda asked the world to bang pots, and this is our response to her call.'
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Eyewitness News
2 days ago
- Eyewitness News
CT Palestine supporters call for end to starvation of people in Gaza
CAPE TOWN - Palestine supporters in Cape Town are calling for an end to the starvation of people in Gaza. Various activist groups held a peaceful demonstration on the Sea Point Promenade on Sunday, where over one hundred citizens took part in a solidarity walk to end the starvation. They banged empty pots and pans to highlight the call to end hunger. The United Nations has reported that nearly half a million Palestinians are facing famine-like conditions, and a third of the population goes days without eating. Dr Feroza Amien of Healthcare Workers for Palestine said more needs to be done to stop the starvation. 'Children are now dying from malnutrition, which is completely preventable, and it's appalling, so wherever we can, whenever we can, we try and get everyone to the streets, shouting as loud as they can for Israel to stop this madness.' Megan Choritz of South African Jews for a Free Palestine said they are filled with grief and rage. 'We cannot believe that 2 million people are starving, those [who] have survived and are not dead already. Gazan Palestinian Bisan Owda asked the world to bang pots, and this is our response to her call.'
IOL News
2 days ago
- IOL News
The world is watching as Israel continues starving Palestinians to death
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) issued a Phase 5 alert Image: WHO As Gaza slips deeper into famine amid relentless conflict, mass displacement, and blocked humanitarian aid, horror stories are emerging from mothers desperately seeking food and water for their children. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said at least 30 children have died of hunger since July 17 and about 60 000 Palestinians have been killed since October 7, 2023. More than half a million people are already estimated to be in what is known as a stage 5 catastrophe yet, the genocidal policy of mass starvation and killing people desperately seeking food in Gaza continues unabated. 'Starvation, malnutrition and disease are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths,' the IPC said, calling for an end to hostilities between Israel and Palestine. Youmna El Sayed, a mother of four and Al Jazeera English correspondent, left Gaza in January 2024, but she doesn't feel relief. She carries with her the weight of those left behind. Now based just a few kilometres away, El Sayed said every day is a battle to reconcile the horror she's witnessed with the expectation to 'be normal'. 'It was and still is very complicated to live like a normal human being when you have your family, friends, colleagues and neighbours still living a daily genocide that you know how horrible it is, while you're now in a place couple of kilometres away yet every other person lives a normal life and expects you to be normal like them. But they have no idea that this itself is a a complex trauma that we carry and live within every day.' El Sayed lived in Gaza for a decade, having moved there permanently in 2014. Among the worst memories that haunt her as a mother, she recalled the day she couldn't find drinking water for her children. 'One of the worst days for me as a mother was when I couldn't find drinking water for my children for an entire night and day. As a mother it's heart aching. For El Sayed, the desperation of survival became heartbreakingly real. 'We had to share a bottle of 500ml of water the six of us. I watched them go thirsty and I gave them sips of water as I and my husband remained without because we had no choice.' Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading Hundreds of protesters banged pots and pans outside the Cape Town Holocaust & Genocide Centre, calling for an end to the genocide and starvation of the Palestinian people. Image: Armand Hough Her youngest child, Juju, found comfort in imagination. 'My youngest Juju, folded half the bread into half and told me I'll imagine this to be a manouche – thyme and olive oil sandwich. Her only wish at the time were for such a simple sandwich that she hadn't eaten for months.' This week, the IPC issued a Food Insecurity and Malnutrition Alert describing the crisis as 'a disaster unfolding in front of our eyes.' The IPC of which the World Health Organization (WHO) is a member, issued one of its gravest alerts yet, saying "famine thresholds have been reached for food consumption in most of the Gaza Strip and for acute malnutrition in Gaza City.' Gaza's humanitarian catastrophe has worsened rapidly in recent weeks. According to the IPC, malnutrition has surged in July, with over 20 000 children treated for acute malnutrition between April and mid-July, including more than 3000 severely malnourished. Ross Smith, Director of Emergencies at the UN World Food Programme (WFP), underscored the scale of the crisis. 'It's clearly a disaster unfolding in front of our eyes, in front of our television screens. This is not a warning, this is a call to action. This is unlike anything we have seen in this century." South African movement Mothers4Gaza says it remains in contact with women on the ground in Gaza through solidarity networks. Ayesha Bagus, speaking on behalf of the group, said the stories from inside are harrowing. 'Their messages are devastating,' she said. 'They speak of watching their children visibly waste away from hunger, of boiling weeds and animal feed just to keep them alive for another day, of scraping together contaminated water to survive.' Bagus said medical care is 'virtually non-existent' due to sustained Israeli attacks on the healthcare system. 'Hospitals have been bombed. Medicines are denied. Pregnant women are giving birth without anaesthetic. Children die from diarrhoea and dehydration. Babies are having their limbs amputated without painkillers.' 'This is not a humanitarian failure; it is Israeli strategy, which their leaders have vocalised publicly. It is a siege, weaponised against some two million civilians.' Cape Town Protesters Rally Outside Holocaust Centre for Palestine. Image: Armand Hough 'The UN's Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) has confirmed that famine conditions are already in motion. Over 500,000 Palestinians are in IPC Phase 5: starvation. Acute malnutrition has quadrupled in Gaza City and crossed the famine threshold. Babies are dying. Families - babies, children, parents, grandparents, go entire days without food.' She added: 'Israel's targeted attacks on bakeries, farmlands, fishing boats, and water systems are not accidents. They are systematic and deliberate. Starvation is not collateral damage. It is Israeli policy.'
IOL News
2 days ago
- IOL News
Starvation in Gaza: How war and blockades lead to famine
Palestinian children eat their meal from cooking pans in Gaza City. Image: Omar Al-Qattaa/ AFP Imagine tying bricks to your stomach to quiet your hunger. Imagine scrounging for something - anything - to eat, whether it is grass or lentils, just to get by. Earlier this week, an Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) alert confirmed that Gaza is on the brink of famine. After almost two years of attacks and blockades that resulted in starvation, Gaza experiences the worst-case scenario of famine (IPC AFI Phase 5). "Mounting evidence shows that widespread starvation, malnutrition, and disease are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths. Latest data indicate that famine thresholds have been reached for food consumption in most of the Gaza Strip and for acute malnutrition in Gaza City," stated the IPC report. But what does this mean for Palestinians? Famine, a term synonymous with widespread suffering and death, is the most extreme classification of food insecurity, known as IPC Phase 5 (Catastrophe/Famine) on the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Acute Food Insecurity scale. The IPC defines famine as an area-level classification where at least one in five households (20 percent) faces an extreme lack of food, leading to starvation and destitution. But the IPC can't just classify situations as famine. For an area to be classified as Famine (IPC Phase 5), specific thresholds must be met. 20% of households experiencing an extreme food shortage and destitution. 30% of children acutely malnourished. A mortality rate of at least 2 deaths per 10,000 people each day, due to outright starvation or the interaction of malnutrition and disease. While common drivers of famine are usually caused by conflict, economic shocks and weather Extremes, this has been described as a man-made famine. According to the World Food Programme, food consumption has plummeted in Gaza since the last IPC Update in May 2025. "Data shows that more than one in three people (39 per cent) are now going days at a time without eating," revealed WFP. 'Gaza is now on the brink of a full-scale famine. People are starving not because food is unavailable, but because access is blocked, local agrifood systems have collapsed, and families can no longer sustain even the most basic livelihoods,' said FAO Director-General QU Dongyu. 'We urgently need safe and sustained humanitarian access and immediate support to restore local food production and livelihoods - this is the only way to prevent further loss of life. The right to food is a basic human right.' Read that again: People are starving not because food is unavailable. This is worth noting because according to Human Rights Watch, Palestinian civilians are attacked at aid sites. This means that starving people are being shot at while trying to get food. Israeli forces at sites of the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) aid distribution scheme 'have routinely opened fire on starving Palestinian civilians in acts that amount to serious violations of international law and war crimes,' Human Rights Watch confirmed. 'Israeli forces are not only deliberately starving Palestinian civilians, but they are now gunning them down almost every day as they desperately seek food for their families,' said Belkis Wille, HRW associate crisis and conflict director. 'US-backed Israeli forces and private contractors have put in place a flawed, militarised aid distribution system that has turned aid distributions into regular bloodbaths.' According to the latest figures from the Gaza Health Ministry, 91 Palestinians seeking aid were killed in the last 24 hours, raising the total number killed to 1,330 and over 8,818 injured, since the end of May when the GHF was launched. IOL
