Currently Online 
New study challenges Israel’s claims on Gaza’s hunger crisis
Refugees International (RI), an advocacy group, said its research in the Gaza Strip found evidence of a severe hunger crisis as well as indications that famine-like conditions occurred in the enclave’s north during the first half of 2024.
The findings contradict the Israeli government’s claims that warnings of famine in the enclave earlier this year were overblown, the group said.
It added that the “ebbs and flows in hunger conditions are closely linked” to Israel’s restrictions and concessions on aid access and said global pressure on the country deferred “an otherwise imminent descent into widespread famine” in Gaza in April.
“However, this improvement was short-lived, and conditions have again been deteriorating badly since the Rafah offensive in May,” RI said.
“Without a more widespread and enduring course-correction on aid access, civilian protection, and humanitarian security, there remains a grave risk of famine conditions spiralling once again,” it added.
Gaza’s Health Ministry appeals for action after paramedic’s death confirmed
The Health Ministry in Gaza has confirmed the death of Palestinian paramedic Hamdan Abu Anaba, who it said was arrested with his colleagues in early December from Nasser Medical Complex, in southern Gaza.
“The Ministry of Health calls on all international and human rights institutions to reveal the fate of dozens of health workers who were kidnapped from hospitals while performing their humanitarian duty,” the ministry said in a statement.
Evacuation of northern Gaza ‘prelude’ to annexation: Ministry
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry has warned of “the dangers posed by Israel’s actions to evacuate Palestinians from northern Gaza, viewing it as a prelude to the annexation of Gaza and significant parts of the territory for settlement purposes”.
It also said Israel is attempting to divide Gaza into three parts.
The ministry said Israel was also mobilising all its resources to escalate tensions in the occupied West Bank, “with the aim of facilitating its annexation and overthrowing the Palestinian National Authority”.
“This agenda is openly promoted by [Finance Minister] Smotrich and [National Security Minister] Ben-Gvir under the slogan of preventing the realisation of a Palestinian state,” it said.
“The international community’s failure to stop these acts of ethnic cleansing and forced displacement grants Israel’s extremist government the necessary time to implement its colonial plans in both Gaza and the West Bank.”
