‘Starvation, pure and simple’: UN warns of famine in Gaza as Israel plans full occupation
Two-year-old Sham Kadih, who is suffering from malnutrition, receiving treatment at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, Gaza, on Saturday. Picture: Hani Alshaer/Anadolu/Getty
The humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza has developed into full-blown starvation, the UN has warned, as Israel doubled down and insisted it would plough ahead with its plan to occupy the Palestinian territory despite growing international condemnation.
The UN’s humanitarian office, OCHA, said 98 children had died from acute malnutrition since October 2023, with 37 of those deaths since last month.
About 100,000 people marched in Tel Aviv on Saturday night to protest against prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned escalation of the offensive in Gaza into outright occupation of the territory.
Despite growing opposition to the planned expansion of the war, including from Ireland, Mr Netanyahu insisted on Sunday that his Gaza City takeover plan is the “speediest” way to end the conflict.
“If we had a starvation policy, no one in Gaza would have survived after two years of war. But our policy has been the exact opposite,” Mr Netanyahu said.
OCHA said otherwise. The UN’s humanitarian office’s coordination director Ramesh Rajasingham said the situation in Gaza had developed into full-blown starvation.
“This is no longer a looming hunger crisis — this is starvation, pure and simple,” he said.
As Mr Netanyahu was speaking, an emergency session of the UN Security Council was taking place, with the US backing Israel in its offensive as others warned against it.
“If these plans are implemented, they will likely trigger another calamity in Gaza, reverberating across the region and causing further forced displacement, killings, and destruction,” UN assistant secretary Miroslav Jenca told the UN Security Council.
Slovenia’s ambassador to the UN, Samuel Zbogar, speaking on behalf of the five European members of the security council (France, Britain, Slovenia, Greece, and Denmark), said: “This decision by the Israeli government will do nothing to secure the return of the hostages and risk further endangering their lives.
"It will also worsen the already catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza and risk further death and mass displacement of Palestinian civilians.”
Earlier, Ireland joined other European countries to write a letter imploring Israel not to expand the war in Gaza, stating that it would be a “flagrant violation of international law”.
Other signatories included foreign ministers in Iceland, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, and Spain.
The letter stated that further escalation would “only deepen” the humanitarian crisis and “further endanger the remaining hostages’ lives”. It stated:
“We firmly reject any demographic or territorial changes in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Actions in this regard constitute a flagrant violation of international law and humanitarian law.”
The letter went on to call for an immediate ceasefire, the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas, the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, and a pathway to a two-state solution.
Speaking in Offaly, Mr Harris said the conflict is at an “extraordinarily dangerous moment”.
He added: “We now see the Netanyahu government take an extraordinarily dangerous step in the absolute wrong direction. I think people in Ireland know, they know what famine is like. It’s ingrained in our mindset, in our history. To be seeing a modern-day famine take place in the 21st century is utterly repulsive and repugnant to everything any decent person can stand for.”
- The Guardian and Irish Examiner
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