Israel claims 14,000 aid trucks entered Gaza since war began
The Israeli military has published an infographic, claiming that the Gaza Strip has received 14,000 aid trucks since the start of the war, containing food, medical equipment and “additional equipment”.
It also claimed that tens of ambulances have entered the war-torn enclave and six hospitals have been established throughout Gaza.
These statements have been refuted by most aid agencies and the UN agencies. Thousands of people are starving in northern Gaza, with children dying from malnutrition and dehydration. The UNICEF on Saturday warned against acute malnutrition, while UNRWA accused Israel of blocking aid in Gaza.
Human Rights Watch accused Israel of violating the International Court of Justice order by blocking the supply of humanitarian aid amid looming famine. The dire hunger situation forced the US to airdrop aid in northern Gaza on Saturday.
Palestinian mother Warda Mattar feeds her newborn dates, instead of milk, amidst food scarcity and lack of milk, at a school where they shelter in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip
We're on day 149. Even if all those 14,000 trucks managed to actually deliver aid, that's a 94 daily avg out of the 500 daily before Oct 7 when there was still water, electricity, fuel, agriculture and fishing possible in Gaza. The daily avg is way down now while aid trucks get blown up as the deliberate starvation keeps getting worse.
Even assuming all those 14,000 aid trucks delivered, that's 1.2 kg of supplies per person per day (assuming all trucks can carry 30 tons each), less than 3 pounds. Your necessary daily intake in water already exceeds that. (3.7 kg for men, 2.7 kg for women) And food/water is only 40% of the aid trucked in, so really it's only a pound per person per day of food/water that has been allowed in.
Maternity kits, anaesthetics, sleeping bags among items banned by Israel: Report
A CNN investigation has found that Israel is obstructing the entrance of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, as some parts of the territory face famine. Interviewing more than two dozen humanitarian and government officials, the report says Israel has imposed “arbitrary and contradictory criteria” regarding access to vital aid.
The items most frequently rejected by the Israelis include anaesthetics and anaesthesia machines, oxygen cylinders, ventilators and water filtration systems. Other products such as dates, sleeping bags, medicines to treat cancer, water purification tablets and maternity kits have also been denied entry.
According to Janti Soeripto, Save the Children US president, who was interviewed by CNN, she has “never seen anything like the level of barriers being put in place to hamper humanitarian assistance”.
Famine deepening, aid drops not effective: Gaza government
Gaza’s government media office has said in a statement that “the famine is still deepening in the governorates of the Gaza Strip to a great extent”. It said on Telegram that “2,400,000 people are still suffering from severe food shortages”.
"Dropping aid by air and turning a blind eye to bringing it in through the crossings is an attempt to circumvent the radical solutions to the problem,” it added.
Health Ministry: 15 children died from lack of food, water in Kamal Adwan Hospital
Gaza’s Health Ministry says at least 15 children have died in the past few days from malnutrition and dehydration at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza City. “We fear for the lives of SIX [other] children suffering from malnutrition and diarrhea at the hospital’s intensive care unit as a result of the cessation of the electric generator and oxygen and the weakness of medical capabilities,” ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qudra said in a statement on Sunday.
On Friday, the hospital director announced the death of seven children, noting that they suffered from severe dehydration and malnutrition. The hospital has been out of service for months due to Israel’s attacks and lack of fuel and medicine.
Babies, hospitalized due to malnutrition and dehydration, lie on a hospital bed at Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, Gaza on Saturday
Palestinian health minister urges world to push for ceasefire
Mai al-Kaila, the caretaker Palestinian health minister, has told Al Jazeera that “the ceasefire is much more important than having food under fire”.
“The top priority is to have a ceasefire,” she said from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. “People are running from one place to another just to save their lives. People all over the world should mobilise to push for a ceasefire.”
“The second call is, stop providing Israel with weapons. Third, make Israel accountable in front of the international law,” al-Kaila added.
A Palestinian child carries away items salvaged from the rubble of the Abu Anza family home destroyed in an overnight Israeli air strike in Rafah on Sunday
MSF official says ‘nowhere in Gaza is safe’, calls for ceasefire
Meinie Nicolai, the general director at Doctors Without Borders who has spent the past two weeks in Gaza, has told Al Jazeera that “the reports of malnutrition, especially among young children, are very concerning”.
“We need a ceasefire. We need it immediately … to increase humanitarian aid. Airdrops will not solve this. We need a sustained ceasefire to bring the aid and the medical care to the people in a safe way,” she said speaking from Brussels. “Nowhere in Gaza is safe.”
She said even the buildings that were notified to the Israeli army as the place where humanitarian aid workers and their families were staying were not safe. Nicolai said the Israeli army had attacked the building where her staff and their families were staying following the Israeli evacuation order despite her organisation notifying the military that it was housing humanitarian aid workers. The incident killed two women in the building.
She said neither the US nor Israel provided her office with any clarifications about why they were targeted in the building in an area designated as safe by the Israeli army.
Red Crescent: Food supplies at al-Amal Hospital enough for only one more week
As Israeli forces continue to besiege al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis for the 42nd consecutive day, the Palestine Red Crescent Society says food supplies are sufficient only for one more week.
The available drinking water is enough for three more days, it said on Sunday.
“Continuous shelling and gunfire around the hospital or directly targeting it endanger the safety of patients and medical teams, making it difficult for medical and nursing teams to move between hospital floors to monitor patient conditions,” the PRCS said.
The Israeli occupation continues its siege and targeting of PRCS Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis, for the forty-second consecutive day. This has led to a catastrophic deterioration in the conditions, according to the following indicators:
1. Food supplies are only sufficient for… pic.twitter.com/lT8iNVo3As
— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) March 3, 2024
