More than 100 NGOs warn of 'mass starvation' in Gaza as hunger spreads
A statement with 111 signatories, including Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Save the Children and Oxfam, warned that "our colleagues and those we serve are wasting away". The groups called for an immediate negotiated ceasefire, the opening of all land crossings and the free flow of aid through UN-led mechanisms.
The UN on Tuesday said Israeli forces had killed more than 1,000 Palestinians trying to get aid since the US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) opened its distribution centres in late May. The disputed group has sidelined the existing UN-led system of aid distribution.
More than 21 children have died of starvation and malnutrition, the Palestinian Health Ministry said on Tuesday, as famine spreads across the enclave that has been by devastated by more than 21 months of Israeli bombardment and war.
In their statement, the humanitarian organisations said that warehouses with tonnes of supplies were sitting untouched just outside the territory, and even inside, as NGOs were blocked from accessing or delivering the goods.
"Palestinians are trapped in a cycle of hope and heartbreak, waiting for assistance and ceasefires, only to wake up to worsening conditions," the signatories said.
"It is not just physical torment, but psychological. Survival is dangled like a mirage."
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday that the "horror" facing Palestinians in Gaza under Israeli military attack was unprecedented in recent years.
Israel has denied the claims of unprecedented starvation in the enclave, accusing Hamas of looting aid and blocking its distribution.
Israeli media cited officials claiming there were no issues with the aid reaching crossings and entering Gaza but that it had not been distributed.
According to the UN, Israel's restrictions and rejections of permits are the main reason for mounting aid stockpiles at the crossings. Convoys that do not co-ordinate with Israeli authorities or obtain the necessary permits come under deadly Israeli army fire.
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