As for point 2c, which is not covered at all in Israel, it's multiple cries for help every single day now
Hundreds of thousands are starving in Gaza as famine arrives at "incredible speed," UN aid chief says
Israel's war in Gaza has brought famine with "such incredible speed," the United Nations’ relief chief told CNN on Monday, as he warned that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are starving in the besieged enclave. The "great majority" of 400,000 Gazans characterized by UN agencies as at risk of starving "are actually in famine, not just at risk of famine," UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator told CNN's Christiane Amanpour.
"It's been an extraordinary and holy unwelcome aspect of the Gazan war," he said. "It has brought famine with such incredible speed to the front of the lines."
Aid has been trickling into Gaza slowly from two border crossings in the south. Last week, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Israel had denied critical supplies from entering northern Gaza. But Israel has accused the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency of not doing enough and “stalling” the progress. Griffiths told CNN Monday that work to provide humanitarian aid to 300,000 Gazans who remain in the north of the strip continues to be a challenge.
"If you cannot rely on deconfliction of access routes of people in need, If you cannot rely on hospitals not being attacked ... if you cannot rely on people having to move from one place of insecurity to another place of insecurity, those are the issues that make humanitarian aid deliveries," he said. "It's not a matter of the number of trucks that can get in."
More than 24,000 people have been killed in Gaza and more than 60,000 others injured since October 7, the Hamas-run Ministry of Health said Monday. Meanwhile, nearly 90% of Gaza's pre-war population has been displaced, according to the UN. Griffiths warned Monday that the dire humanitarian situation in the enclave could create "generational hatred." "We worry for the security of Israel as much as the security of Gaza," he said.
In Gaza, ‘children are dying first. Adults will follow’: UN expert
Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied territories, has said she “never thought we would witness mass starvation of these proportions used in the 21st century. Yet here it is in Gaza, after 100 days of bombing, with insufficient food, fuel and water allowed in.”
In a post on X, she said children “are dying fast” before warning that “adults will follow” before the world’s eyes.
Albanese also sent a plea to Israeli citizens, saying: “We cannot stop this without you. I fully acknowledge your enduring pain, including for the hostages still in Gaza. Please do not overlook the devastation inflicted on Gaza, especially its children, half of the population trapped in this horror. This makes no one safer.”
1/2. I never thought we would witness mass starvation of these proportions used in the 21st century. Yet here it is in Gaza, after 100 days of bombing, with insufficient food, fuel & water allowed in. Children are dying first. Adults will follow. Before our eyes. https://t.co/s1V5foNBYX
— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) January 16, 2024
WHO reports rise in hepatitis A cases in Gaza
The UN’s health agency says the increase in cases is mainly in the central areas and Rafah governorate in the south, “with the current water and sanitation conditions being prime for further spread”. The hepatitis virus is mainly spread when an uninfected and unvaccinated person ingests food or water contaminated with the feces of an infected person.
According to the UN, flooding has been reported across different parts of the Strip due to extensive infrastructure damage, destruction and huge clogging of sewage system and wastewater. Rainwater lagoons have been contaminated with wastewater and several lagoons are at risk of flooding if the rainfall intensifies.
2.2 million people in Gaza at imminent risk of famine: UN
Of the 2.3 million people in the Gaza Strip, the UN agency OCHA says 378,000 are at what it classifies as phase 5, or catastrophic levels of hunger. Phase 5 refers to extreme lack of food, starvation and exhaustion of coping capacities.
It added that 939,000 people face phase 4 “emergency” levels of hunger. According to OCHA, nutrition-focused NGOs and other UN agencies can only meet 25 percent of the nutritional needs for malnourished children and vulnerable mothers in the next two months.
Footage shows conditions inside makeshift camps in Gaza’s Rafah
The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) released a video showing conditions inside a makeshift camp for displaced Palestinians in Gaza’s southern Rafah city.
“Some people have not eaten in days, the children have no winter clothes, there’s no medical care. Most products are not available on the market and when they are available, they are very expensive,” said Olga Cherevko from the OCHA team. “Shelter is a huge need and of course food, and most of all peace.”
“Some people have not eaten in days. The children have no winter clothes. There’s no medical care. […] The extent of needs is enormous.”
🔊 Olga Cherevko, from our team in southern #Gaza, on the dire conditions of displaced people in overcrowded shelters and makeshift sites. ⬇️
Health Ministry: 350,000 patients deprived of medication in Gaza
At least 350,000 chronically ill patients are not receiving their medications because of the ongoing Israeli war. The spokesperson for Gaza’s Health Ministry, Ashraf al-Qudra, called on international aid organisations to urgently provide medications.
Al-Qudra previously announced the depletion of the anaesthesia nitrous oxide gas in operating rooms, along with severe shortages of other crucial medical supplies. Palestinian and international health and human rights organisations warn of the total collapse of the faltering healthcare system in Gaza because of the ongoing war.
Israel putting ‘big impediments’ to Gaza aid: Jordan
Ayman Safadi, Jordan’s foreign minister, says Israel is placing many hurdles to the entry of aid into Gaza that were worsening the dire situation of its residents.
In comments made during a news conference with his Australian counterpart, Safadi said these obstacles resulted in covering only 10 percent of the total needs of more than 2 million Palestinians in Gaza under siege.
