Death toll from Israeli attacks on aid seekers in Rafah rises to 30
Israeli forces opened fire on starving Palestinian civilians gathered in the area waiting to receive food aid.
The total number of Palestinians killed while attempting to access humanitarian aid reached 891 on Saturday, with more than 5,754 wounded.
Palestinian health officials said hundreds of people could soon die as hospitals were inundated with patients suffering from dizziness and exhaustion due to the scarcity of food.
"We warn that hundreds of people whose bodies have wasted away are at risk of imminent death due to hunger," the health ministry said.
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Middle East Eye
26 minutes ago
- Middle East Eye
Children will die quickly amid 'genocidal starvation' in Gaza, warns top famine expert
A renowned expert on famine, Professor Alex de Waal, has accused Israel of 'genocidal starvation' of Palestinians in Gaza with its continued deadly siege on the enclave. At least 101 Palestinians, including 80 children, have died of starvation since Israel's blockade resumed in March, including 15 who died of malnutrition on Monday, according to the Palestinian health ministry. Meanwhile, more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid at distribution sites run by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in place since May and manned by Israeli soldiers and US security contractors. De Waal told MEE's live show on Tuesday that the UN is not in a position to declare famine due to Israel's obstruction of access to humanitarians and investigators to gauge the extent of hunger. However, he said, 'it is actually relatively straightforward if you are perpetrating a famine to shut out access to essential information and then say no one has declared famine'. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters 'Concealment of famine is an instrument of those who perpetrate it,' he added. De Waal said that famine is unfolding in Gaza in 'a wholly predicted manner'. De Waal is executive director of the World Peace Foundation, affiliated with the Fletcher School of Global Affairs at Tufts University, and the author of Mass Starvation: The History and Future of Famine. He explained that a healthy adult will take 60 to 80 days of total deprivation of food to die of starvation. With semi-starvation, it would take a lot longer. 'But children will perish much more quickly. Their small bodies waste away very, very fast.' What makes children more vulnerable is the interaction between malnutrition and infection. 'Many children get diarrheal infections or malnutrition itself, which means that they cannot process or digest food properly. It's that dehydration that follows, and the combined effect of malnutrition and disease that carries most of them away.' Therefore, De Waal pointed out that the figures on deaths from starvation may be an undercount compared to the full scale of deaths associated with famine. The body of a starved person consumes its own reserves of fat, then its own organs, he explained. Mentally, starvation may cause hallucinations and paranoia. 'Engineered starvation' De Waal said that Israeli actions in Gaza stand out in comparison to other famine situations historically. 'Israeli actions stand out because there is no other case in modern history in which you have such minutely, precisely engineered starvation within an hour's drive, or even less than an hour's drive, of a fully capable international humanitarian operation ready to roll,' he told MEE. 'If Israel wanted every child in Gaza to have breakfast tomorrow, the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could say so, and it would happen' - Alex de Waal 'If Israel wanted every child in Gaza to have breakfast tomorrow, the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could say so, and it would happen. 'That is not the case in other terrible famines, such as in Sudan today. The precision, the minute control that Israel has over this is something without precedent in modern times.' Officials from the UN's agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa), the largest humanitarian provider in Gaza, told MEE they have had 6,000 trucks loaded with food and medical supplies in Egypt and Jordan for four and a half months, but Israel has yet to let them in. Prior to the current siege, aid groups were able to bring in around 600 trucks per day - the minimum amount of aid humanitarian organisations say is needed for Gaza's population, Unrwa head Philippe Lazzarini told MEE in May. Unrwa's communications director, Julitte Touma, told MEE on Tuesday that the agency has been receiving 'S.O.S messages' from Palestinians, including its own staff, pleading for any food for them and their children. Some staff members have fainted on duty because of hunger, Touma said. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant are wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague for war crimes and crimes against humanity linked to the use of starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza. The International Court of Justice, the UN's principal judicial organ, issued a binding order on 28 March 2024 ordering Israel to take all necessary measures to ensure the unimpeded provision of humanitarian aid to Gaza, in cooperation with the UN. But Israel has largely ignored the order. De Waal noted that even the Israeli judge on the court, Justice Aharon Barak, voted in favour of this order, making it unanimous. AFP warns Gaza journalists risk starving to death amid ongoing Israeli siege Read More » The court also ruled that Israel's duty to ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid was part of its obligation under the Genocide Convention to prevent genocide. Yet, 16 months since the ICJ ruling, Israel and its international partners have not fulfilled this obligation, said de Waal. 'The Genocide Convention has an obligation to prevent and to punish genocide. So the prevention aspect cannot wait until we have counted the graves of all those children who have died of starvation. 'And what we are seeing unfolding is exactly what genocidal starvation consists of. 'It is not only the suffering and death of individuals but perhaps more importantly it is that social trauma. It is that shame. It is that degradation. It is that feeling of people being reduced to the state of animals, being forced to violate profound social taboos - scavenging for food in piles of garbage, etc. This is what genocide looks like at the moment.'
Middle East Eye
2 hours ago
- Middle East Eye
Over 100 humanitarian groups sound alarm on starvation of staff in Gaza
More than 100 international human rights and humanitarian organisations have called for an end to Israel's siege of Gaza, citing widespread starvation affecting their staff. Famine caused by Israel's ongoing war and blockade has led to a growing number of deaths from malnutrition and dehydration in recent days. A joint letter released on Wednesday, signed by 109 organisations, including Amnesty International, War Child UK, and EuroMed Rights, warns that the humanitarian crisis is reaching catastrophic levels. 'As the Israeli government's siege starves the people of Gaza, aid workers are now joining the same food lines, risking being shot just to feed their families," the joint letter said. "With supplies now totally depleted, humanitarian organisations are witnessing their own colleagues and partners waste away before their eyes." New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters The signatories rejected the "military-controlled distribution models," in reference to the scandal-ridden Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an Israeli-US initiative designed to bypass the UN's infrastructure for aid delivery and distribution in Gaza. They also urged the immediate lifting of the Israeli blockade and allowing aid groups to do their work. "Humanitarian agencies have the capacity and supplies to respond at scale," the statement added. "But, with access denied, we are blocked from reaching those in need, including our own exhausted and starved teams. "Every day without a sustained flow means more people dying of preventable illnesses. Children starve while waiting for promises that never arrive." 'Chaos, starvation and death' The organisations also accused Israel of creating "chaos, starvation, and death", noting that the starvation of civilians as a "method of warfare is a war crime". "Palestinians are trapped in a cycle of hope and heartbreak, waiting for assistance and ceasefires, only to wake up to worsening conditions. It is not just physical torment, but psychological. "Survival is dangled like a mirage. The humanitarian system cannot run on false promises. Humanitarians cannot operate on shifting timelines or wait for political commitments that fail to deliver access." As a medical aid worker, I've never seen suffering like Gaza. It must end Read More » The statement comes after the after Palestinian health ministry on Tuesday announced that 15 Palestinians died from malnutrition the previous day. Ten more people died from lack of food on Wednesday. In total, 111 Palestinians, including 80 children, have died from malnutrition, according to the Palestinian health ministry. On Monday, AFP journalists' union warned that its colleagues working in Gaza are facing death from starvation, as a result of Israel's blockade on the besieged Palestinian territory. "We have lost journalists in conflicts, we have had wounded and imprisoned in our ranks, but none of us remembers seeing a colleague die of hunger," the union, Society of Journalists (SDJ), said in a statement. Following the union's statement, AFP management said it "shares the anguish expressed by the SDJ regarding the appalling situation of its staff" and urged Israel to allow their evacuation. "For months, we have been helplessly witnessing the dramatic deterioration of their living conditions. Their situation is now untenable, despite exemplary courage, professional commitment and resilience," an AFP statement said. The AFP has ten Palestinian photographers and reporters working in the enclave.
Middle East Eye
3 hours ago
- Middle East Eye
Gaza extermination: Hasan should have turned three. Instead, he starved to death
Two-year-old Hasan Barbakh died of starvation on 24 June, after months of prolonged malnutrition, dehydration, an enlarged liver, and acute blood toxicity. He would have turned three the next day. Hasan was just over a year old when Israel launched its genocidal campaign on the Gaza Strip, cutting off every Palestinian in Gaza from the outside world. Israeli displacement orders forced his family to move around like chess pieces. Not long after Israeli authorities imposed a total blockade in March, Hasan's health began to deteriorate. He lost 2kg in weight. "From the first week of the siege, [his weight] began to drop daily, and his voice grew weaker," Hasan's mother, Amna, told a field researcher from Defence for Children International - Palestine, where I work as an advocacy officer. "I sensed he was slowly fading away." New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters Hasan was admitted to the Nutrition Department at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis on 23 April. Like every remaining medical facility in Gaza, it lacks medicine, infant formula, medical equipment, doctors, electricity, food and clean water to properly treat children suffering from severe acute malnutrition. Weaponised starvation Palestinians in Gaza are now dying of starvation at an alarming rate. On Sunday alone, at least 19 people died from hunger, according to Gaza health authorities. There is simply no food left, as Israel continues to block humanitarian aid from entering, and its military forces kill Palestinians seeking assistance from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Starvation is entirely preventable. The death of even one child from hunger does not happen by accident. The starvation of one million children in Gaza is a genocide. There is simply no food left, as Israel continues to block humanitarian aid from entering, and its military forces kill Palestinians seeking aid Hasan died the very morning that Defence for Children International - Palestine released a new report, Starving a Generation: Israel's Famine Campaign Targeting Palestinian Children in Gaza. It includes 33 documented cases of child starvation, among them Hasan, whose case was recorded by one of our field researchers in May. We updated the report to include his death just before publication. I co-authored this report, which asserts that Israeli authorities are deliberately weaponising starvation as a tool of genocide - and that the impact of this period will last for generations. Our field researchers in Gaza documented some of the earliest cases of child starvation in early 2024 and continued collecting evidence well into Israel's latest closure of the Gaza Strip. We argue that Israel unleashed famine in Gaza in early 2024, when the first child died of starvation, and that it has not ended since. Genocidal intent A famine does not simply occur by chance. Israeli authorities have deliberately manufactured famine in Gaza by implementing attacks and policies that prevent basic essentials from reaching Palestinians in need. While Israel's supporters have denied this, Israeli officials made their intentions clear in the early days of the genocide. Follow Middle East Eye's live coverage of the Israel-Palestine war Who can forget what then-Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant declared on 9 October 2023? Among the earliest and most striking examples of genocidal intent to starve Palestinians in Gaza, he said: "We are imposing a complete siege on the Gaza Strip. There will be no electricity, no food, no water, no fuel, everything will be closed. We are fighting against human animals and we are acting accordingly." Gaza extermination: What is your last thought when you're starving to death? Read More » The siege that followed never ended. Palestinian children are dying, one after another, from prolonged malnutrition and dehydration, which shut down their bodies slowly and painfully. Young children, newborn babies, and children with disabilities or chronic conditions are among the most vulnerable to malnutrition and dehydration, wrote the Doctors Against Genocide medical team in one section of DCIP's latest report. Children who experience prolonged malnutrition at a young age typically grow up stunted, with weak immune systems, and are more likely to develop chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and heart disease. They experience academic and behavioural problems in school and face long-term issues with attention, learning and executive functioning. DCIP's field researchers documented 33 cases of child starvation for our report, but this represents only a fraction of the true toll of malnutrition in Gaza. The scale of the genocide - and the risks facing our field researchers - make it impossible to document every case. Global complicity Right now, every child in Gaza is facing starvation. Israeli authorities are not the only ones responsible for this suffering. World leaders - who have watched Israeli officials lay out plans to starve Palestinians, drop 2,000-pound bombs on apartment buildings, shoot children and families sheltering in schools, and attack every hospital in Gaza - are complicit and must be held accountable. This report's findings could not be more urgent. What line could be more red than a starving baby, wasting away before his mother's eyes? World leaders who watch as Israel starves and bombs Palestinian families are complicit and must be held accountable It is too late for Hasan, who should have celebrated his third birthday last week and instead succumbed to starvation while his mother watched helplessly. It is too late for all the other Palestinian children who have died a slow, painful death as their muscles wasted away and their organs failed from a lack of food and water. It is not too late for the one million hungry children still in Gaza, waiting for a day when they have enough to eat. We are calling for an immediate and decisive end to Israel's siege and genocide in Gaza - and for world leaders to take every action necessary to save the lives of Palestinian children and families. Anything short of that is simply not enough. The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.
