Gaza

Amid growing hopes for a Gaza ceasefire and an end to the war, United Nations humanitarian officials revealed disturbing details on Friday about the ongoing killing and injuring of Palestinians desperately seeking food. Israeli forces continue to target and kill people attempting to access food supplies at militarized distribution centers, UN distribution sites, and near aid convoys.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) says malnutrition among children is spreading fast and reaching devastating and unprecedented levels in the Gaza Strip due to the wide-reaching impacts of Israel’s war and its ongoing blocking of aid deliveries. At least 31 people - including 27 children - have died of hunger and dehydration in recent weeks. Since October 7, more than 13,450 children have been killed in the tiny territory, according to Gaza officials.

While the world’s attention is diverted to Iran following the Israeli government’s launch of another war, Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip continue unabated, resulting in more deaths, maiming, displacement, and destruction of civilian infrastructure. At the same time, Israel continues to hinder United Nations–coordinated aid based on universal humanitarian principles from reaching those in need by the scale necessary.

As world leaders gather in New York for the 79th United Nations General Assembly and the threat of a wider regional escalation looms, the world's humanitarian leaders are demanding an end to the appalling human suffering and humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.  "These atrocities must end," they said in a statement signed Monday by the heads of UN agencies and representatives of the world's non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

The Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) in the Occupied Palestinian Territory on Sunday issued a stark warning about the deepening humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip, as Israeli authorities maintain a blockade on the delivery of humanitarian aid and commercial goods for more than two months. In a statement, HCT, which coordinates relief efforts in Gaza and the West Bank, also condemned Israeli efforts to dismantle the current aid system.

Hospitals in Gaza are on the verge of total shutdown as more have come under intense bombardment. Almost two thirds of all hospitals in Gaza are now completely out of service, and the rest are struggling to keep functioning while civilian casualties continue to rise. Bombardments and armed clashes around the Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City have intensified since Saturday afternoon.

The situation for civilians in the Gaza Strip is getting worse by the day. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns that food stocks and other essential supplies in Gaza are largely depleted or have run out, and the situation is desperate as no humanitarian or commercial supplies have entered the territory for more than eight weeks. In addition, escalating Israeli attacks, movement restrictions and the expansion of military zones have made humanitarian operations nearly impossible, putting civilians and aid workers at extreme risk.

The United Nations human rights office has condemned the increasing frequency of Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) strikes on schools in the Gaza Strip, where hundreds of thousands of forcibly displaced Palestinians have sought shelter, carried out "with apparent disregard for the high rate of civilian fatalities." The condemnation follows dozens of IDF attacks on schools-turned-shelters in July, and horrific early Saturday morning strikes that killed up to 100 people.

Due to the wide-reaching impacts of Israel’s war and its ongoing blocking of aid deliveries, famine is projected to occur anytime between now and May 2024 in northern Gaza, according to a new report published today by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC). The rest of the Gaza Strip is also at the risk of famine if hostilities do not cease and humanitarian assistance at scale does not reach those most in need.

The United Nations humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, said in a statement on Wednesday that the world is watching horrifying scenes day after day of Palestinians being shot, wounded, or killed in the Gaza Strip simply for trying to eat. The UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) has recorded the deaths of at least 82 Palestinians and the injuries of at least 506 others, reportedly while they were trying to reach food distribution points in Rafah and Deir al Balah.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that UN agencies and other humanitarian organizations continue to scale up much-needed relief efforts in the Gaza Strip. In a statement on Thursday, OCHA reiterated that maintaining the ceasefire is "crucial to keep this life-saving work going," amid reports that the truce's continuation is threatened by reported disagreements over its implementation.

UN chief António Guterres says the number of civilians killed in Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip has been “unparalleled and unprecedented” compared to any other conflict since he took office in 2017. The statement comes as de-facto authorities in Gaza reported today that more than 13,300 people have been killed in the tiny enclave since October 7. The casualty numbers include more than 5, 600 children, which means that more than 100 children are killed daily by indiscriminate and disproportionate Israeli bombardments from the air, sea, and land.

According to health officials in Gaza, Israeli forces have killed more than 55,000 Palestinians — most of whom were children, women, and the elderly — and injured more than 127,000 others in their attacks on the Gaza Strip since October 2023. However, the true numbers of fatalities are estimated to be much higher. The identified dead include more than 15,000 children, 463 aid workers, 319 UN staff members, 1,580 healthcare workers, and 224 journalists.

Israeli government and military authorities are responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during military operations and attacks in Gaza since October 7, 2023, the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel said in a report released Wednesday. The Commission also found that Palestinian non-state armed groups are responsible for war crimes committed in Israel.

A top United Nations agency says the occupied Gaza Strip is "the most dangerous place in the world to be a child" as Israel's military bombardment of the territory kills and injures thousands of children and thousands more suffer from infectious disease and a lack of food, water and medicine in overcrowded, unsanitary hospitals and shelters. As of Wednesday, more than 20,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli operations. Among the dead are more than 8,000 children.

As the Israeli government’s ongoing siege starves the people of Gaza, 115 humanitarian organizations have sounded the alarm on Wednesday, urging governments to act. The organizations demand decisive action, including opening all land crossings and restoring the full flow of food, clean water, medical supplies, shelter items, and fuel through a principled United Nations–led mechanism. They also demand an end to the siege and a ceasefire now.

As civilians lining up for humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip continue to be killed by Israeli forces, speakers at the United Nations Security Council meeting on Wednesday urged Israel to lift restrictions on aid operations in Gaza, called for a return to UN-led delivery mechanisms, and stressed the urgent need for a ceasefire and the protection of civilians. Among them was UN relief chief Tom Fletcher, who told members that "we are beyond vocabulary to describe conditions in Gaza."

Briefing the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday on the catastrophic reality in Gaza, the top UN relief official urged those present to consider what they will tell future generations when asked what they did to stop the "21st century atrocity" taking place daily before the eyes of the world. The statement comes as every one of Gaza's 2 million surviving Palestinians faces famine, with one in five on the brink of starvation.

In a joint appeal Wednesday, the heads of UN humanitarian agencies and global non-governmental organizations (NGOs) urged world leaders to help prevent a further deterioration of the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, mostly women and children. They also called on Israel to fulfill its legal obligation under international humanitarian and human rights law to provide food and medical supplies and facilitate relief efforts.

The United States government this week labelled the actions of Sudan's paramilitary forces as genocide and imposed sanctions on its leader for the "horrific, systematic atrocities" committed by his forces in a war that has gripped Sudan for nearly two years, killing tens of thousands of people and driving more than 12 million from their homes. Yet at the same time, the US administration denies that war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide are being committed in the Gaza Strip.