Gaza is in the grip of starvation as nearly 2 months of Israel’s total closure has left markets empty, children malnourished and famine conditions spreading. The humanitarian response is now at critical breaking point unless supplies are urgently allowed in.
Israel’s illegal and immoral shutdown of all supply routes into Gaza is a deliberate campaign to starve civilians, and Islamic Relief staff on the ground say the situation is now the worst we have ever seen there. Many children are going whole days without eating while aid trucks packed with food are cruelly blocked from entering just a few miles away.
Meat, fruit, eggs and dairy products are now almost impossible to find, while the scarcity of vegetables means that prices are up to 15 times more expensive than before the crisis, at a time when few people have jobs or access to cash. Almost 18 months of Israeli attacks have destroyed Gaza’s ability to feed itself, with most agricultural land, greenhouses and fishing boats destroyed and most cattle killed. This has left all civilians in Gaza reliant on humanitarian aid, but none has been allowed to enter since 2 March.
A recent survey of 43 aid agencies in Gaza found that 95% have been forced to reduce or suspend activities due to the total closure and the relentless indiscriminate bombing that has killed more than 51,000 people and targeted hospitals and shelters. Our staff hear horrific daily accounts of families burnt to death in their tents and children burned by bombing.
Palestinian medics transport the body of a victim following Israeli attacks on apartments in a residential building in Gaza
Mahmoud Basal, spokesman for Gaza’s civil defence agency, said a lack of rescue equipment has prevented emergency workers from reaching those buried underneath the collapsed building bombed by Israel before dawn.
“Our crews cannot reach them because of the lack of the necessary machinery,” he told the AFP news agency.
Earlier this week, Israeli aircraft destroyed 40 engineering vehicles the civil defence teams were using to remove heavy debris during rescue operations.
Israeli air raids also hit other parts of the Strip on Saturday, including al-Mawasi and Khan Younis, as the besieged territory faces impending mass starvation amid an ongoing genocide.
