Geneva [Switzerland], July 27: The International Crisis Group affirmed that Israel is starving Gaza since walking away from a ceasefire in March, and it has throttled the tiny strip and its 2.1 million inhabitants with draconian restrictions on humanitarian aid and commercial deliveries.
This catastrophe was not only predictable; it was predicted. Crisis Group, the UN and others warned of the very events that are now unfolding in the strip, the group said in a statement. ''Israel's strategy of restricting access to life's necessities while providing just enough subsistence to keep Gazans from sliding into famine underestimated the toll that extended deprivation would take on an already weakened population.''
''With more people succumbing every day, Israel must end its siege immediately. Every truck matters. Every calorie counts. But opening the gates is only the beginning: only a ceasefire can alleviate the humanitarian catastrophe engulfing Gaza,'' it said.
It noted that whether that is true, the new Gaza Humanitarian Foundation system (GHF) delivers rations through a mechanism that ensures the weakest cannot get them. Administered by security contractors, the US-backed GHF claims to have provided some 87 million meals in two months. But it has not defined what constitutes a "meal" or explained how it can effectively distribute provisions by dumping boxes on the ground for crowds to scuffle over.
''The predictable result has been deadly chaos that makes a mockery of "humanitarian" distribution. Israeli troops have repeatedly opened fire on the aid seekers, killing more than 1,000 of them since May.''
Alarmingly, UN nutrition screenings of 15,000 children in Gaza City in July have assessed over 16% as being acutely malnourished, above the 15% threshold the UN uses for famine declarations and way above the 4% recorded in February.
The group said:''The lack of a ceasefire provides no excuse for this starvation policy, nor for outside actors to give Israel diplomatic space pending the outcome of negotiations, which in any case seem to be stalled.''
In short, the group added, Gaza needs both open gates and a ceasefire. Outside actors who have expressed outrage but failed to use their leverage must now demand both measures. The machinery of death must be stopped, not merely slowed.
Source: Emirates News Agency
