Palestinians suffer hunger or are killed by Israelis when looking for help

Palestinians suffer hunger or are killed by Israelis when looking for help

After 21 months of warfare in Gaza, the coastal strip is characterized by increasing scenes of death and hunger. People die while trying to achieve help, others are starving, and criticism of Israel's approach will be sound even among many of the closest allies. According to the United Nations, over 1000 people have been killed since the end of May, while they were looking for food, as a controversial new aid organization, the Gaza Humanitrian Foundation (GHF), started their work.

The situation in Gaza: a complete siege

Before the conflict, Gaza was already one of the most isolated and densely populated areas in the world, with about two million people on an area of 363 square kilometers. For years, Israel has maintained strict controls through a land, air and sea blockade that has severely restricted the movement of goods and humans. According to the UN, more than half of the residents were undernousted and lived below the poverty line.

Before the war, the influx of relief goods in Gaza had grown to 500 to 600 trucks every day. Since then, this value has only dropped to 28 trucks per day, as a group of humanitarian organizations reported on Wednesday. It remains unclear whether this number includes the trucks used for the operations of the GHF.

The humanitarian crisis intensifies

After the attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023, in which more than 1200 people were killed and over 250 taken hostage, Israel ordered Gazas "complete siege" and stopped the supply of electricity, food, water and fuel. As a result, a humanitarian crisis quickly developed because the enclosed residents were both hunger and a devastating military offensive Israel. Human rights groups criticized Israel's use of food as a "weapon of war" and accused the country of applying "collective punishment".

short breather and a temporary ceasefire

As a result of international prints, the first aid deliveries in Gaza came up at the end of October. A temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas began on November 24, 2023, which increased the aid intake slightly. But the ceasefire collapsed a week later.

The auxiliary deliveries then reduced again, while strict Israeli controls further delayed deliveries. Israeli authorities stated that the controls were necessary to prevent Hamas from being redirecting aids, while humanitarian civil servants accused Israel of deliberately reducing help.

collapse of the social order

While Israel's offensive destroyed large parts of Gaza, most of his residents distributed and the control of Hamas weakened, lawlessness spread. It was looting a new obstacle for the UN trucks, and the number of victims at the aid bodies increased. The UN warned just a few weeks after the beginning of the war that the public order began to break, while desperate Palestinians stole flour and hygiene items from storage rooms.

In November 2024, the UN raised the alarm again and explained that the ability to deliver relief goods were "completely gone". In one of the worst looting, more than 100 trucks were lost. Drivers were forced to unload trucks under the threat of violence, auxiliary workers were injured and vehicles suffered considerable damage.

a new aid organization and the tragedy of famine

In January of this year, Israel banned the UNRWA to operate in Gaza, which means that hundreds of thousands of people remained denied access to vital services such as nutrition, health care and education. In May, the GHF announced that Israel approved the distribution of relief goods. Shortly before her start, the director of the GHF, Jake Wood, resigned and explained that it was impossible to do the work "with strict attention to the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence".

The UN refused to participate in this model because the GHF violates some basic humanitarian principles. Critics pointed out that there are only a small number of GHF distribution points in southern and central Gaza-far less than under the previous UN model, which led to large crowds at limited locations.

On Sunday, the Gaza Ministry of Health reported that ten people died in 24 hours due to hunger and malnutrition, which increased the total number of Palestinian deaths through hunger to 111. On Wednesday, 111 international humanitarian organizations asked Israel to end his blockade and agree on an armistice, and warned that the supplies in the enclave are now "completely exhausted".

international reactions and the future of help

An Israeli civil servant said at a press conference on Wednesday that in the future one will expect more aid deliveries into the enclave. "We would like to see more and more trucks that enter Gaza and distribute the help as long as Hamas is not involved," said the official.

The international pressure on Israel continues to grow, also from the United States. On Monday, the foreign ministers of 25 western countries of Israel criticized the "drop aid" for the Gaza Strip. Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected the declaration as a "remote reality".