70 days of Israeli border closure worsens collapse of humanitarian and health systems in Gaza.
The Gaza government warned on Friday that more than 65,000 Palestinian children are at immediate risk of starvation due to the two-month-long Israeli siege and blockade of vital supplies to the Gaza Strip as part of a genocidal campaign in the Palestinian enclave.
“The Israeli occupation is engineering a famine that is killing civilians. It continues its systematic crimes against 2.4 million Palestinians by closing the crossings and blocking 39,000 aid trucks carrying food, fuel and medicine, in flagrant violation of international law,” the Gaza Media Office said in a statement as quoted by Anadolu.
It is said that all bakeries have been closed for 40 days, leaving civilians without bread.
“More than 65,000 Palestinian children now face death by starvation due to malnutrition as Israel uses starvation as a weapon against civilians,” they asserted.
The statement noted that Israel’s total closure of the crossings for 70 days has exacerbated the collapse of the humanitarian and health systems in Gaza.
He urged the international community and the United Nations to immediately intervene to end the blockade, reopen the crossings and allow the flow of aid and basic necessities into Gaza.
The remarks came as UN officials on Friday sharply criticized Israel’s recently proposed humanitarian aid plan for Gaza, warning that it could worsen the suffering of Palestinian civilians and fails to meet basic humanitarian standards.
The reason is that Israel is only allowing 65 truckloads of humanitarian aid into Gaza per day, compared with 500 truckloads of aid entering Gaza daily before the genocide.
The statement came as UN officials on Friday sharply criticized Israel’s recently proposed humanitarian aid plan for Gaza, warning that it could worsen the suffering of Palestinian civilians and fails to meet basic humanitarian standards.
Israel is only allowing 65 truckloads of humanitarian aid into Gaza per day, compared with 500 truckloads of aid entering Gaza daily before the genocide.
Israel has closed Gaza’s crossings for food, medical and humanitarian aid since March 2, deepening an already existing humanitarian crisis in the enclave, according to government, human rights and international reports.
Nearly 52,800 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in Israel’s brutal assault since October 2023, most of them women and children.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants last November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel is also facing a genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over its war on the enclave.