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Officials say 85 Palestinians seeking aid are killed in Gaza as Israel widens evacuation orders

Officials say 85 Palestinians seeking aid are killed in Gaza as Israel widens evacuation orders

DEIR AL-BALAH: At least 85 Palestinians were killed while trying to reach food at locations across Gaza on Sunday, the territory's Health Ministry said, on the deadliest day yet for aid-seekers in over 21 months of war.
There was new alarm as Israel's military issued evacuation orders for parts of central Gaza, one of the few areas where it has rarely operated with ground troops and where many international organizations trying to distribute aid are located. One group said several offices were told to evacuate immediately. There was no immediate Israeli comment.
The largest death toll was in devastated northern Gaza, where living conditions are especially dire.
At least 79 Palestinians were killed while trying to reach aid entering through the Zikim crossing with Israel, Zaher al-Waheidi, head of the Health Ministry's records department, told The Associated Press. The U.N. World Food Program said 25 trucks with aid had entered for 'starving communities' when it encountered massive crowds.
A U.N. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to comment on the incident to the media, said Israeli forces opened fire toward crowds who tried to take food from the convoy. Footage taken by the U.N. and shared with the AP showed Palestinian men running as automatic gunfire was heard.
'Suddenly, tanks surrounded us and trapped us as gunshots and strikes rained down. We were trapped for around two hours,' said Ehab Al-Zei, who had been waiting for flour and said he hadn't eaten bread in 15 days. He spoke over the din of people carrying the dead and wounded. 'I will never go back again. Let us die of hunger, it's better."
Nafiz Al-Najjar, who was injured, said tanks and drones targeted people 'randomly' and he saw his cousin and others shot dead.
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Why there hasn't been a formal declaration of famine in Gaza
Why there hasn't been a formal declaration of famine in Gaza

Hindustan Times

time3 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. 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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.'

Gaza Famine Risk Grows as UN Warns Time Running Out for Help
Gaza Famine Risk Grows as UN Warns Time Running Out for Help

Mint

time4 hours ago

  • Mint

Gaza Famine Risk Grows as UN Warns Time Running Out for Help

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Explained: What Needs To Be Done To Reverse Famine Crisis In Gaza?
Explained: What Needs To Be Done To Reverse Famine Crisis In Gaza?

NDTV

time5 hours ago

  • NDTV

Explained: What Needs To Be Done To Reverse Famine Crisis In Gaza?

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