'100% Gazans at risk of famine', warns UN as aid delays deepen Gaza crisis

UN agency warns that entire population of Gaza faces risk of famine due to severe aid shortages and bureaucratic barriers, as Israel permits only limited supplies into the besieged territory

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has raised alarm over the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, citing that Israel is permitting only a fraction of needed aid to enter the territory. An OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke described Gaza as “the hungriest place on earth”, highlighting the critical shortage of ready-to-eat food, news agency Reuters reported. 

Laerke explained that although Israel had authorised 600 of 900 aid trucks to reach its border with Gaza, “a mixture of bureaucratic and security obstacles” has rendered it nearly impossible to ensure safe passage of humanitarian aid into the region.

 

  “What we have been able to bring in is flour,” he said on Friday. “That’s not ready to eat, right? It needs to be cooked,” he added, emphasising that “100 per cent of the population of Gaza is at risk of famine”.

 

Medical facilities struggling

Tommaso della Longa, spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, further highlighted the deteriorating conditions in Gaza. According to della Longa, half of the organisation’s medical facilities in the region are non-operational due to severe shortages of fuel and medical equipment.   

 

Israel approves US-backed Gaza truce proposal

Israel has agreed to a new temporary ceasefire proposal for Gaza, according to the White House. The plan, brokered with US involvement, aims to bring an end to the ongoing conflict with Hamas and secure the release of hostages captured during the initial attack that escalated the war. 

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed on Thursday that Israel had endorsed the proposal. Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, had earlier expressed hope that the plan could help end the fighting and facilitate the return of more hostages.

 

Hamas decries proposal, seeks clarity

Hamas officials, however, responded cautiously to the proposal, indicating they needed additional time to review its details before making a formal response. 

Bassem Naim, a senior Hamas official, told Associated Press: “The Zionist response, in essence, means perpetuating the occupation and continuing the killing and famine.”   

 

  He added, “It does not respond to any of our people’s demands, foremost among which is stopping the war and famine.”

 

Netanyahu sticks to demilitarisation goals

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reiterated that Israel will not end the war until all hostages are freed and Hamas is either dismantled or disarmed and exiled. He also declared that Israel plans to maintain indefinite control over Gaza and promote what he calls the voluntary emigration of much of the Palestinian population. 

Hamas is currently holding 58 hostages, with around one-third believed to be alive.

 

(With agency inputs)