UN says half of Gaza’s inhabitants is now ravenous amid Israel warfare | EUROtoday

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Half of Gaza’s inhabitants is now believed to be “starving” as Israel’s assault on the besieged strip continues to escalate, a senior UN official warned.

Calling for a right away “humanitarian ceasefire”, Carl Skau, deputy govt director of the UN World Food Programme, took to X saying: “There’s not enough food. People are starving.

“WFP has reached over one million people, but the situation is untenable. We need to get our supplies in [and we need] a humanitarian ceasefire.”

Elaborating on the disaster unfolding on the streets of northern Gaza, he advised reporters that “nine out of 10 are not eating every day”.

Two in three individuals within the south have been reporting the identical, he mentioned. The WFP known as the state of affairs “alarming.”

“I am very hungry,” mentioned Mustafa al-Najjar, sheltering in a UN-run faculty within the devastated Jabaliya refugee camp within the north. “We are living on canned food and biscuits and this is not sufficient.”

While adults can cope, “it’s extremely difficult and painful when you see your young son or daughter crying because they are hungry,” he mentioned.

Israelis who had been taken hostage additionally noticed the meals state of affairs deteriorate quickly throughout the course of their kidnapping ordeals, the lately freed Adina Moshe advised a rally of 1000’s of individuals in Tel Aviv looking for the speedy return of all remaining hostages.

“We ended up eating only rice,” mentioned Moshe, who was held for 49 days.

On Saturday, 100 vans carrying unspecified help entered Gaza via the Rafah crossing with Egypt, mentioned Wael Abu Omar, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Crossings Authority.

Despite rising worldwide strain, president Joe Biden’s administration stays against an open-ended ceasefire, arguing it might allow Hamas to proceed posing a menace to Israel. A US veto derailed UN Security Council efforts to demand a right away ceasefire on Friday.

Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant argued that “a ceasefire is handing a prize to Hamas,” as the IDF pushed ahead with its punishing air and ground offensive, which has expanded into southern Gaza.

The Israeli army said in a statement early on Sunday that five of its soldiers have died in the Gaza War.

Four soldiers were killed in the battle in Southern Gaza, while the fifth succumbed to his wounds after fighting on 7 October, according to the Israeli army statement posted on X.

A day after Israel confirmed it was rounding up Palestinian men for interrogation, some men released on Saturday told the Associated Press they had been treated badly, providing the first accounts of the conditions from the detentions.

Osama Oula said Israeli troops had pulled men out of a building in the Shujaiyah area of Gaza City, ordering them to the street in their underwear. Mr Oula said Israeli forces bound him and others with zip ties, beat them for several days and gave them little water to drink.

Ahmad Nimr Salman showed his hands, marked and swollen from the zip ties, and said older men with diabetes or high blood pressure were ignored when they asked soldiers to remove their ties.

He said the troops asked, “‘Are you with Hamas?’ We say ‘no,’ then they would slap us or kick us.” He mentioned his 17-year-old son Amjad continues to be held by the troops.

The Israeli army had no instant remark when requested in regards to the alleged abuse.

With the warfare in its third month, the Palestinian demise toll in Gaza has surpassed 17,700, the bulk ladies and youngsters, in response to the well being ministry within the Hamas-controlled territory. The ministry doesn’t differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths.

Two hospitals in central and southern Gaza obtained the our bodies of 133 individuals from Israeli bombings over the previous 24 hours, the well being ministry mentioned on Saturday.

Israel holds the Hamas militants answerable for civilian casualties, accusing them of utilizing civilians as human shields, and says it has made appreciable efforts with evacuation orders to get civilians out of hurt’s means.

It says 97 Israeli troopers have died within the floor offensive after Hamas raided southern Israel on 7 October, killing about 1,200 individuals, largely civilians, and taking about 240 hostages.

More than 2,500 Palestinians have been killed for the reason that 1 December collapse of a weeklong truce, about two-thirds of them ladies and youngsters, in response to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

The truce noticed hostages and Palestinian prisoners launched, however Israel says 137 hostages stay in Gaza.

Additional reporting by businesses