Israel pressures Lebanon and Iran wants new version of nuclear deal
On this episode of Trending Middle East:
Israeli air strikes on Lebanon kill seven amid fragile truce
Iran says previous nuclear deal cannot be revived and parties must reach new agreement
'Truly a lifeline': UAE pledges $64.5m for East Jerusalem hospital to support Palestinian health care
This episode features Arab Affairs Editor Vanessa Ghanem and Assistant Foreign Editor Aveen Karim.
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The National
an hour ago
- The National
UN famine expert: Trauma and shame of Israel's starvation of Gaza will last generations
The trauma and shame inflicted on Gaza as it starves under an Israeli blockade will last for generations, a UN expert on famine has told The National. The pain felt by parents helplessly watching their children fade away, the lengths for survival that some have had to go to like eating rotten flour, picking up chickpeas from the ground that someone else had left behind, or eating animal fodder – all of these experiences of suffering are bound to be carried forward, said the UN 's special rapporteur on the right to food, Michael Fakhri. 'Starvation campaigns create a social trauma because if you survive, then you've had to make impossible decisions and decide who to feed and deny food,' said Mr Fakhri, who has spoken to descendants of people affected by Ireland's famine in the 19th century. The survivors of times like these would have had to endure watching others slowly die in agony, Mr Fakhri said. 'There's a sense of shame for having survived, and it is very difficult to speak about publicly and recover from it psychologically.' Officials in Gaza say at least 113 people, many of them children, have died of starvation during Israel 's blockade on life-sustaining aid, which includes baby food. On top of that, almost all of Gaza's population of 2.2 million people is displaced, the death toll from direct bombardment is inching towards 60,000 with more than 143,000 injured, and living conditions are squalid, unsafe and rife with disease. Israel's government maintains it is not to blame for harrowing images of emaciated children in Gaza begging for food, or crying at some of the last remaining charity kitchens for a spoonful of beans. It says there are unused aid supplies in Gaza and accuses Hamas and the UN of preventing their delivery. In the past 24 hours, two new deaths were recorded from malnutrition and hunger. As the UN inches closer to declaring a famine in Gaza, the clearest tell-tale sign of famine is how it affects the youngest in a population, Mr Fakhri said. 'When children start dying from hunger and malnutrition, you know there's a famine because any community – when there's hunger – will feed their children, and adults will deny themselves food for days to prioritise their children,' he said. So when those children begin to die from hunger, as in Gaza, Mr Fakhri said, it can be concluded that there is a famine and that the entire social structure of that community is under attack. But while the semantics over what constitutes a famine are being discussed, Mr Fakhri said it is not debatable that Israel is inflicting mass starvation on Gaza, in what he describes as a war crime. Starvation is not only the direct deprivation of food, he said, as a person can be held liable for the crime of starvation if they wilfully impede relief supplies. Israel has blocked large quantities of aid from entering Gaza since at least March. 'The denial of food, water, medicine and destruction of homes, is starvation,' Mr Fakhri said. 'You don't have to measure the impact and count dead bodies and measure misery to wait to find that there is starvation. All you need to show is intent and action.' Another of the world's leading experts on famine, Alex DeWaal, compared this diagnosis to a physician not needing to look at a patient's test results to determine the disease they have. Whether it's under the legal definition of starvation according to international humanitarian law, or the UN 's Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), which has its own technical definition of famine, Mr Fakhri said: 'By any definition, Israel has conducted a starvation campaign'. In November last year, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Minister of Defence at the time, Yoav Gallant, for the war crime of starvation. They remain free and Israel continues to deny the impact it has had on the population.
Sharjah 24
7 hours ago
- Sharjah 24
89 Palestinians killed in 24 hours as Israeli attacks continue
Soaring death toll since October 7 The Gaza Ministry of Health reported that the Palestinian death toll since October 7, 2023, has reached 59,587, with 143,498 others injured. The majority of casualties are women and children. Aftermath of ceasefire breach in March Following Israel's breach of the ceasefire on March 18, 2024, the toll has continued to climb. Since then, 8,447 Palestinians have been killed and 31,457 injured. Victims trapped under rubble In the past 24 hours, hospitals received 89 bodies, including 10 recovered from beneath the rubble, alongside 453 injured individuals. Authorities noted that many victims remain trapped under debris, inaccessible to ambulances and rescue teams. Humanitarian aid deaths rise The ministry also confirmed that 23 bodies and 68 wounded people were received in the past day, all of whom were attempting to collect humanitarian aid. This brings the total number of "bread-seeker" martyrs to 1,083, with 7,275 injured while seeking food. Ongoing catastrophe in Gaza Since resuming its offensive after the truce ended in March, Israel has intensified airstrikes across Gaza, pushing the region further into a severe humanitarian catastrophe. Rescue efforts are hindered by ongoing bombardment and lack of access to victims under the rubble.
Middle East Eye
13 hours ago
- Middle East Eye
Starvation in Gaza: Dizziness, fatigue and people collapsing in the streets
Akram Basheer's children cry out in hunger. All he can do is hold them and promise: one day, when the Israeli siege ends, you'll eat whatever you want. But the Palestinian father of three knows he's making a promise he can't keep. 'There's absolutely nothing I can do,' he told Middle East Eye. 'I just support them psychologically. I tell them, 'Insha'Allah [God willing], things will improve and food will become available.' There is no other option.' New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters Living in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, Basheer, 39, spends each day searching for enough food to feed his children and elderly parents, whose health has sharply deteriorated. Like nearly all of Gaza's estimated 2.1 million population, he and his family have been starved under Israel's total blockade of the Palestinian enclave in place since March. Sometimes, Basheer's family manages to get a single meal. Often, not even that. 'A lot has changed in my children because of hunger,' he said. 'They're losing weight, oversleeping, struggling to focus. 'All day, they think about food, especially sweets. They tell us they're hungry all the time.' Even when Basheer can feed his children, the meals lack proper nutrition, leaving them still hungry. 'They never feel full. The food lacks nutritional value, it doesn't satisfy them,' Basheer said. 'Any small effort leaves us completely exhausted' - Akram Basheer, Palestinian father The adults are no better, he added. "We've all lost weight. Any small effort leaves us completely exhausted.' Still, Basheer believes he can manage to keep his children alive on whatever food he can find. It's his parents who worry him most. They are elderly and sick, with their father suffering from diabetes and high blood pressure. 'He's collapsed several times from dizziness and fatigue,' Basheer said. 'We have to watch him constantly. He fell recently and broke his hand. And with no milk, no eggs, no nutrition, it's hard for his bones to heal.' Months-long siege On 2 March, Israel completely sealed Gaza's borders, cutting off nearly all aid and supplies to Gaza, including basic food items, baby formula and drinking water. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) reported that as of May, around half a million people in Gaza were facing catastrophic hunger (IPC Phase 5). The situation has rapidly deteriorated since then, leaving the entire 2.1 million population of Gaza on the brink of famine. Gaza extermination: What is your last thought when you're starving to death? Read More » 'The crisis began when the occupation closed the crossings at the start of Ramadan, but it worsened to an unprecedented level a month and a half ago, when the stockpile we had stored ran out,' Basheer explained. 'Eventually, it couldn't last forever. We are a whole family with children who constantly need food, and the longer it lasts, the fewer basic food items we find.' For Basem Munir al-Hinnawi, the severe shortage of basic food items began weeks ago. Over the past month, he and his family have only been able to eat bread once every four or five days. He is the sole provider for two families since his father was killed at the beginning of the war "Now I support my mother, my sisters, and two brothers, in addition to my wife and one-year-old child,' the 32-year-old from Jabalia refugee camp told MEE. 'On the days we don't find bread, I sometimes buy the children a very small piece of shortbread cookies just to curb their hunger. 'And when lentils are available, we make lentil soup.' People collapsing Hinnawi says that during the early months of the blockade, the constant hunger was difficult enough. But in recent weeks, the physical toll of malnutrition has become increasingly 'unbearable,' leaving them weak, dizzy, and struggling to function. 'Lately, I have been suffering from extreme fatigue and cannot move easily. I'm constantly dizzy and severely emaciated. Since the beginning of the war, I have lost 39 kilograms. All of my siblings have lost between 15 and 20 kilograms,' he added. 'How could they understand that it's not us, their parents, who don't want them to eat?' - Munir al-Hinnawi, Palestinian father 'Every few days, we have to take my sister to the hospital after she passes out due to malnutrition, while my wife, who is breastfeeding, suffers from even more extreme fatigue, dizziness, and weakness. She can no longer manage any simple housework.' When Hinnawi manages to secure a small portion of food, they reserve it for the children. As for the adults, they survive on water and salt. 'I went to aid distribution points five times and failed to get any food every time. I was exposed to extreme danger, including gunfire from tanks and quadcopters,' he recalled. 'Every time, I returned empty-handed. By God, there were days when we adults went for four days without eating anything, only drinking water with dissolved salt,' he added. His mother, who suffers from diabetes and high blood pressure, can't walk 20 meters without collapsing. At least 113 Palestinians, including 81 children, have died of starvation since the Israeli war and siege on Gaza began in October 2023, according to the Palestinian health ministry. The ministry says it registered more than 28,000 cases of malnutrition, though the real figure is likely higher. Gaza: This 12-year-old dreams of combing her hair again after surviving an Israeli attack Read More » 'We adults can sometimes endure this hunger. But how can a small child understand that we are being deliberately starved?' Hinnawi added. 'How could they understand that it's not us, their parents, who don't want them to eat?' With basic food items vanishing from markets and families enduring days without enough to survive, scenes of people collapsing from hunger and sheer exhaustion have become increasingly common across Gaza's streets. 'Just yesterday, while I was walking through Sheikh Radwan, where I am currently displaced, a woman in her late 40s collapsed in the middle of the street from hunger,' Hinnawi recounted. 'People carried her and placed her by the sidewalk until someone came from their home with a spoonful of sugar, which is currently very scarce, and fed it to her. It slowly helped her regain consciousness and stand up. 'People are simply exhausted. Enough.'
