Two months after Israeli authorities imposed a total siege on the Gaza Strip, blocking food, fuel, medicine and other supplies, humanitarian agencies have warned that thousands more deaths in the enclave are imminent.
On Friday, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said the humanitarian response in Gaza “is on the verge of total collapse”.
Israeli authorities announced a total siege on Gaza on March 2nd. This came months after the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant, who are accused of using starvation as a method of warfare; Mr Netanyahu described the court’s move as anti-Semitic. A spokesman for the Israeli prime minister did not respond to a request for comment.
“Under international humanitarian law, Israel has an obligation to use all means available to ensure that the basic needs of the civilian population under its control are met,” the ICRC said on Friday.
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The conflict in Gaza started after the Hamas-led attack on October 7th, 2023, which killed 1,200 people and resulted in 251 hostages being taken, according to Israeli tallies. The number of Palestinians killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza has topped 52,400 – nearly a third of them children – according to Gaza health authorities. Israel is facing a genocide case in the International Court of Justice. A ceasefire came into force in January, but was ended by Israel in March.
“Starvation is not just a lack of food, it represents a loss of dignity, a loss of hope and life itself,” said Oxfam employee Ghada Alhaddad during a media briefing by humanitarian agencies working in the enclave on Friday.
[ Ship carrying humanitarian aid and activists to Gaza attacked by drones, NGO saysOpens in new window ]
Many families are rationing or eating only one meal a day, she said. Due to scarcity, a 25kg bag of flour costs $350 (€308). “There are some canned items in the market but they lack nutritional value,” she said. She described a pregnant woman dividing a single tomato between herself and her four children.
The siege of Gaza “is taking place in the full view of the international community” which has “a responsibility to take action”, said Gavin Kelleher, humanitarian access manager for the Norwegian Refugee Council. He called the blockade “barbaric”, saying it is part of a “broader campaign to ensure that Gaza becomes unlivable for Palestinians”.
More than one million Gazans are in need of tents, but there are none left to distribute, he said, despite the fact that an additional 420,000 people have been displaced since the collapse of the ceasefire.
Mr Kelleher said some 89 per cent of Gaza’s water and sanitation systems are damaged or destroyed, while looting is taking place because more than two million people are “in survival mode”.
[ Gazans fear Israel is enacting Donald Trump’s ‘Riviera’ planOpens in new window ]
Jacqui Corcoran, the media and communications lead for Oxfam in Jerusalem and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, said Oxfam alone has 100 trucks ready to cross the border. Inside Gaza, dozens of children have already died from hunger and 60,000 are acutely malnourished, she said. Only a fraction of hospitals are partially functional and clean water is almost nonexistent. The situation is “catastrophic and worsening by the day”.
Beyond humanitarian access, she said, “we need a permanent ceasefire.”
Amjad Shawa, the director of the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organisations Network, said it is necessary to recognise that the siege came after the “systematic destruction of the social and economic infrastructure in the Gaza Strip” which forced Gazans to become reliant on humanitarian aid.
He called Gaza “the biggest graveyard for children”, saying malnutrition could impact their mental and physical development for life if they survive. Some 610,000 children are being denied vaccines, he said. About 12,000 cancer patients are missing basic treatment. “We are talking about human beings. Lives. Dreams . . . The international community has to act now.”
