The Gaza Health Ministry said that 33 people, including 12 children, had died of starvation in the sector over the past two days. Israel says it is not preventing food deliveries to the sector and that 2,000 tonnes of baby food, in particular, have been delivered there.
The Hamas Health Ministry claims that since the start of the war in October 2023, 101 people have died of starvation in the sector, including 80 children. These claims suggest that all adult victims of starvation have died in the last two days.
The director of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Dr. Mohammed Abu Salmiya, told the BBC that 21 children had died of malnutrition in the entire sector over the past three days. According to him, 900,000 children in the sector are suffering from malnutrition.
Israel has repeatedly rejected accusations that it is deliberately starving the population of Gaza. Israeli authorities insist that they are allowing food and other humanitarian aid into the sector.
The Israeli Ministry of Defence’s department responsible for civilian affairs in the Palestinian territories, COGAT, said on Monday that more than 2,000 tonnes of baby food had been delivered to Gaza, but did not specify when it had been delivered.
“We urge international organisations to continue coordinating with us to ensure the delivery of baby food and formula without delay. We remain committed to ensuring that humanitarian aid reaches civilians — but not Hamas,” COGAT said on X.
Journalists in Gaza are facing starvation
The Agence France Presse journalists’ association said on Monday that its freelance correspondent in the Gaza Strip was facing starvation. Shortly afterwards, AFP management also said that the agency’s freelancers in Gaza were in an intolerable situation.
“January-April 2024, AFP is now taking the same steps for its freelance staff, despite the enormous difficulties in leaving the territory, which is under a strict blockade,” AFP management said, calling on the Israeli authorities to help with the evacuation.
Israel, which controls the entire perimeter of the Gaza Strip, does not allow unaccompanied foreign journalists to enter.
Palestinians are losing their lives near aid distribution points
The Palestinian side accuses the Israeli military and security guards of the American firm Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which was set up specifically to distribute and protect humanitarian aid, of constantly shooting and killing people crowding around aid distribution points.
Anshel Pfeffer, a British-Israeli journalist and correspondent for Haaretz and The Economist, accompanied by Israeli soldiers, visited such a distribution point in Khan Younis and told the BBC that he saw a crowd pushing towards the distribution point.
According to Pfeffer, American security guards tried to hold back the crowd and maintain order by firing into the air — he was told that the bullets were not live — and using tear gas.
“At one point, the situation got out of control and they retreated, and then the boxes of aid were snatched by those at the front,” Pfeffer said.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights claims that since 27 May, when the GHF began operating, 1,054 people have been killed or died in stampedes while trying to receive humanitarian aid: 766 near GHF sites and 288 near UN and other organisation sites and convoys.
“Our figures are based on information from many reliable sources on the ground, including medical personnel and humanitarian and human rights organisations. They are still being verified using our rigorous methodology,” OHCHR said.
On Sunday, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health, at least 67 people were killed while waiting for a convoy with UN aid in the north of the Gaza Strip. A day earlier, according to the same source, at least 39 people were killed at two distribution points in the south of the Strip. In total, over the past week and a half, the Palestinian side has reported at least six similar incidents.
Israel and the GHF dispute these figures. As for the GHF aid distribution system, Israel explains that it is necessary to prevent Hamas from stealing humanitarian aid. The UN, however, refuses to work with the GHF “on ethical grounds.”
