"The Starvation War Continues"
Journalist Anas Al-Sharif wrote on the "X" platform about the dire circumstances the Palestinian people are living in Gaza, stating: "Our memories are burdened with endless wounds, and our bodies are collapsing under the weight of hunger and thirst." After rockets and mortars hit our people, the sun burns us ruthlessly! Our bodies are weak, diseases spread like wildfire, and neither the wealthy nor the poor can get sustenance for their children. After 250 days of hostility, we thank God for everything and pray for patience and quick respite."
The occupying forces are still preventing trucks delivering food and other necessities from accessing northern Gaza, even after 250 days of fighting. The only food accessible in northern Gaza is flour, which is allowed in very few shipments. The Government Media Office declared that the famine war had returned to the north, emphasizing the dire circumstances. Aid cannot get to the north, where over 700,000 people have experienced starvation in recent months, because of Israeli occupation forces. In order to starve the populace and drive them from their homes and land, the criminal occupying forces first permitted some help to enter before resuming their blockage of it.
It is reported that Israeli occupation forces damaged the main UNRWA relief warehouses in the Jabalia camp during recent operations. These warehouses held a significant amount of food supplies and humanitarian help for citizens and displaced people, which led to increased suffering in the northern areas.
Institutions both domestically and internationally have issued dire warnings about the extent of the calamity should these aids fail to reach northern regions. In addition, the Israeli occupation has completely destroyed water wells, leaving the northern districts completely devoid of essential supplies, contributing to a serious water deficit. The Government Media Office verifies that the occupation purposefully distorts public perception throughout the world by referring to relief shipments that are limited to flour.
Human rights groups have also attested to the dire humanitarian and food conditions that the entire Gaza population is facing, offering indisputable proof that Israel is committing the crime of hunger and using it as a weapon of war. Israel maintains control over all land and sea entrances into the Gaza Strip, enforces an unlawful siege, regulates the flow of necessities, and has substantially and methodically devastated agricultural lands, homes, and livelihoods belonging to civilians. Israel is to blame for the hunger that is sweeping across the Gaza Strip. When the Israeli Prime Minister and Defense Minister submitted their requests for arrest warrants to the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber last week, the ICC Prosecutor accused them of committing the war crime of starving civilians as a means of warfare due to the disastrous and obvious consequences.
Most of the people living in Gaza are already experiencing extreme hunger, with hundreds of thousands of children and the elderly being disproportionately affected by acute wasting. Every resident has shed thousands of tons of weight in the last few months.
Human rights organizations report that medical sources show starvation-related deaths occur nearly every day.
In order to stop the starvation in Gaza from spreading, the international community has moral and legal obligations. It must act quickly to name and legally declare the famine in Gaza. This proclamation is essential to guarantee the prompt delivery of life-saving assistance. By not acting swiftly to force Israel to end its arbitrary siege and cease its crimes, the official announcement of the famine was delayed. It was also noted that prolonged delays in the delivery of life-saving aid would result in increased levels of hunger, poverty, malnourishment, and fatalities.