United Nations Warns of ‘Manmade Famine’ as Israeli Siege Persists in Gaza
UNRWA said on Sunday that humanitarian assistance in Gaza has been severely undermined by Israeli attempts to sideline the UN-led distribution system. The agency stressed that the Palestinian territory’s food crisis is not a natural disaster but the direct result of political decisions.
Juliette Touma, UNRWA’s communications chief, said on the social media platform X: “We are very, very close to losing our collective humanity.”
She argued that the famine has been driven by deliberate efforts to replace the UN’s coordination with the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), describing the Israeli-American initiative as one that “brings dehumanization, chaos, and death.”
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Touma urged a swift return to a unified UN-led system grounded in international humanitarian law, stressing that “the abomination must end.”
Gaza’s Health Ministry reported Saturday that 11 more people, including a child, died of starvation, raising the hunger-related death toll to 251 since October 2023. Among them are 108 children.
The ministry added that since late May, when the GHF began operations, at least 1,924 Palestinians have been killed and over 14,288 wounded while searching for food and aid.
Despite mounting international appeals, the Israeli regime has pressed ahead with its onslaught on Gaza, which began after October 7, 2023. Nearly 61,900 Palestinians—most of them women and children—have been killed in the genocidal war, which has leveled neighborhoods and pushed the enclave to the brink of starvation.
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In November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former minister of military affairs Yoav Gallant on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Israel is also facing a genocide case at the International Court of Justice.
Source: Agencies
