Dozens of prominent NGOs have said in a statement that the Israeli forces’ assault on Gaza has escalated to a “horrifying level of atrocity.”
They noted that northern Gaza is being “wiped off the map.”
In the statement, the NGOs asserted that under the guise of evacuation, Israeli forces have ordered the forced displacement of an estimated 400,000 Palestinians trapped in northern Gaza, including Gaza City. “This is not an evacuation – this is forced displacement under gunfire,” the statement said, adding that since the beginning of the month, no food has been allowed in the area.
They stressed that the world cannot continue to stand by as the Israeli government commits these atrocities, stating that global leaders have both a legal and moral duty to act now.
Gaza’s Health Ministry noted that at least 42,409 Palestinians have been killed and 99,153 wounded in Israel’s attack on Gaza since October 2023.
It said that the death toll includes 65 people killed in the previous 24 hours.
The real number of Palestinians killed in Israel’s onslaught is far higher with an estimated 10,000 bodies buried in Gaza’s vast destruction.
Separately, James Elder, a spokesman for the UN’s children’s agency UNICEF, The United Nations stated that restrictions on aid to Gaza are the worst since Israel’s war on the Palestinian territory began in October last year.
He noted that there were several days where no trucks were allowed into Gaza by Israel with Palestinians in the north cut off from food, water and medicine during a 12-day ground invasion and siege by Israeli troops.
Additionally, a new report on conflict-fuelled hunger by Oxfam, a UK-based charity said that nearly half a million people in Gaza are starving during the ongoing war in the enclave.
Emily Farr, Oxfam’s Food and Economic Security Lead, said in a statement that as conflict rages around the world, starvation has become a lethal weapon wielded by warring parties against international laws, causing an alarming rise in human deaths and suffering.
“Nearly half a million people in Gaza – where 83 percent of food aid needed is currently not reaching them – and over three-quarters of a million in Sudan are currently starving as the deadly impact of wars on food will likely be felt for generations.”
Emily Farr
Oxfam called on the international community, including the UN Security Council, to hold accountable those responsible for “starvation crimes” under international law.
Also, Rachael Cummings, a Health Specialist with Save the Children, stated that the situation for children across Gaza is “absolutely dire.”
Cummings said that people are in “survival mode,” adding that there is not adequate sanitation and hygiene practices are decimated.
The Health Specialist noted that the psychological impact on children in Gaza is “unimaginable,” stressing that the lack of education in the Strip during the war is making things worse.
Aid Arrives In Northern Gaza For First Time In Two Weeks
Meanwhile, an update by COGAT, the Israeli body that oversees the Palestinian territories and coordinates with aid groups, revealed that aid has arrived in northern Gaza for the first time in two weeks
In a social media post on Wednesday morning, COGAT said that 145 humanitarian aid trucks, containing food, hygiene products, baby formula and shelter equipment had entered Gaza via the Kerem Shalom and Erez crossings.
It added that nine tankers of fuel and six tankers of cooking gas designated for the operation of essential infrastructure were transferred into Gaza.
In its update, COGAT stated that a convoy of 28 trucks entered Gaza directly through Gate 96, adding that the rotation coordination of humanitarian personnel has been successfully completed.
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