Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas has called on US President, Donald Trump to intervene to allow UN agencies to deliver food and medical aid.
He also urged the international community to find immediate ways to deliver the hundreds of thousands of tonnes of humanitarian aid currently present in the Gaza Strip.
In a televised address, he said that the starvation and killing of people in Gaza in front of aid centres is a “stain on the international community’s conscience if it does not act immediately to stop this genocide.”
Separately, Hamas said in a statement in Telegram that the continued crime of starvation in the Gaza Strip is a stain on the international community, “which continues its shameful silence in the face of one of the most horrific crimes of our time.”
“The systematic and overt policy of starvation and thirst practiced by the government of the war criminal Netanyahu against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, which has intensified over the past five months, is a disgrace to the international community, which has been a silent witness to this horrific, brutal crime.”
Hamas
The Palestinian group called on Western countries to translate “their declared media positions” into effective political and economic actions and measures, to review all forms of cooperation with the occupation, to stop supplying it with weapons with which it kills civilians and children around the clock, and to hold it accountable for using starvation as a tool of mass murder.
It also called on the UN and the international community to take practical and binding measures to “compel the occupation to allow the immediate entry of aid, without conditions or control, in a manner that ensures the rescue of civilians from the threat of death by hunger and thirst.”
Meanwhile, the International Rescue Community said their teams in Gaza have reported a surge in cases of children being rushed to the hospital due to malnutrition.
Philippe Lazzarini, the Head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) warned that “when child malnutrition surges, coping mechanisms fail, access to food & care disappears [and] famine silently begins to unfold.”
“Parents are too hungry to care for their children. Those who reach UNRWA clinics don’t have the energy, food or means to follow medical advice.”
Philippe Lazzarini
He said that the agency has 6,000 trucks loaded with humanitarian supplies in Jordan and Egypt, ready to enter Gaza. “Allow humanitarian partners to bring unrestricted and uninterrupted humanitarian Palestinian assistance to Gaza,” Lazzarini said.
Journalist In Gaza Face Threat Of Starvation
Four leading news organizations said Thursday that their journalists in Gaza are facing the threat of starvation as the Israel-Hamas war grinds on, while top US Envoy, Steve Witkoff was to meet with key negotiators from the Middle East for talks on the latest ceasefire proposal and the release of hostages.
The media outlets’ joint statement called on Israel to allow journalists in and out of Gaza and allow adequate food supplies into the territory.
The joint statement by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, Reuters and the BBC, said, “For many months, these independent journalists have been the world’s eyes and ears on the ground in Gaza.” It added, “They are now facing the same dire circumstances as those they are covering.”
Since Israel’s aid blockade in March, Gaza’s humanitarian situation has become dire, alarming international organizations.
The United Nations World Food Program has said 100,000 women and children are facing famine levels of starvation.
READ ALSO: Government Uncovers Massive Payroll Fraud, Set to Recover GHS150.4 m
