The Israeli military said it carried out air strikes on at least 10 targets in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday night and Thursday morning, killing at least 10 Palestinians, including a child, and wounding dozens more.
At least four Palestinians were killed in southern Gaza, and three more died in another attack in the north, Al Jazeera reported, citing journalists at the scene.
On Wednesday, the United States defended Israel during the third day of hearings at the International Court of Justice, which focused on Israel’s obligations as an occupying power.
Around 3,000 trucks carrying humanitarian aid are waiting at the border, blocked by Israeli troops, while Palestinians are starving and organisations are calling on the international community to take action.
Doctors Against Genocide Hold DC Rally for “Bread Not Bombs” in Gaza
Members of the international human rights group Doctors Against Genocide gathered outside the US Capitol in Washington on Wednesday to demand that lawmakers immediately call for a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to Israel’s use of starvation as a weapon of war in the besieged Palestinian enclave.
About 20 DAG members in white coats held pieces of pita bread and chanted “Bread, not bombs, let the children eat” during the rally on Capitol Hill.
“The Israeli government’s deliberate malnutrition, starvation, and attack on healthcare in Gaza has worsened and potentially portends extermination of masses of the Gaza population, particularly tens of thousands of children,” Dr. Karameh Kuemmerle, a paediatric neurologist from Boston, said.
Last week, the United Nations World Food Programme distributed the last of its remaining food aid in Gaza, where residents under siege due to the Israeli blockade now have no external sources of food. DAG said on Wednesday that “gastroenteritis and diarrhoeal diseases are now widespread because Gazans are trying to survive on expired food, while others are dying of hunger.”
Palestinian officials, UN experts and international human rights organisations accuse Israel of genocide, using starvation as a weapon in Gaza by imposing a “total blockade” that has led to deadly malnutrition and the spread of disease among more than 2 million residents of the coastal enclave, especially children.
According to the UN agency OCHA, the number of children receiving treatment for malnutrition increased by 80% in April compared to March due to Israel’s ongoing blockade of food and emergency aid supplies.
The agency also added that 92% of children aged between six and two years old are not receiving the minimum necessary nutrition.
