Six more people have died of starvation or malnutrition in Gaza in the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll from the famine to 175, including 93 children, Reuters reports. As the territory grapples with a humanitarian crisis, Egyptian state television reported that two trucks carrying a rare shipment of fuel were preparing to cross the border on Sunday.
The two trucks, carrying 107 tons of diesel, are set to enter the territory months after Israel imposed strict restrictions on aid, then eased them somewhat as famine spread. The Gaza health ministry said the fuel shortage had severely hampered hospital services, forcing doctors to treat only the most critical patients. There was no immediate word on whether the trucks had actually entered Gaza.
After Israel restricted the entry of aid and goods into the area in March, fuel shipments also became significantly scarce. Israel justified its decision at the time by saying that it wanted to put pressure on Hamas to release the hostages taken in the spring of 2023.
Israel blames Hamas for the suffering in Gaza, but under pressure from growing international outrage, it announced last week that it would allow more aid in: designating protected routes for aid convoys and allowing airlifts, while partially halting daily fighting in some areas.
UN agencies say the food deliveries by air are insufficient and Israel should allow much more aid in by land. The Israeli military agency responsible for coordinating aid, COGAT, said 35 trucks had entered Gaza since June, almost all in July.
Palestinian health authorities said at least 40 people were killed by Israeli gunfire and airstrikes in the Strip on Sunday. The dead included those trying to reach aid distribution points in southern and central Gaza, Palestinian paramedics said.
German Foreign Minister Urges Fundamental Change
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are suffering from famine, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said in an interview with German public radio Deutschlandfunk.
“For some time now, we have been witnessing that the blockade imposed by the Israelis on the Gaza Strip is in practice leading to starvation, death, suffering and thirst of people,” Wadephul said in the interview, which he gave on the plane back to Germany after a visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Wadephul called for UN aid agencies and the Red Cross, as well as religious and charitable organizations, to be allowed into the war-torn area. “This must start tomorrow,” he said, urging a “fundamental change” in Israeli policy.
He said he knows more aid trucks are entering the Gaza Strip, but “it’s still not enough, it needs to gradually improve.” “We will continue to stand by this,” he said.
According to German security sources, between 50 and 100 percent of the aid shipments that entered the region at the end of the week ended up in the hands of the Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas or criminal gangs.
Germany joined the airlift on Friday, but said it had only brought minor relief. It said aid should be delivered to the area by land and that Israel should facilitate this.
Germany, a staunch ally of Israel, is usually cautious in criticizing the Israeli government and its policies, but has recently changed its tone.
When can we talk about famine?
The Integrated Food Security Scale (IPC), a coalition of UN agencies, governments, aid agencies and other groups, says Gaza has not yet reached the threshold for famine. The IPC defines famine as a triple-criteria situation of food shortages, acute malnutrition and deaths from starvation.
IPC experts said: according to the latest data, the first two criteria have already been met, with extreme food shortages in much of the Gaza Strip and acute malnutrition reported from Gaza City. Reuters, MTI/dpa)
