GAZA Herald- A group of prominent human rights groups warned in a joint statement of “mass starvation” throughout Gaza, with their staff severely impacted by shortages. Israel faces growing global pressure over the enclave’s dire humanitarian crisis, where over two million people have endured 21 months of war.
“As the Israeli government’s siege starves the people of Gaza, aid workers are now joining the same food lines, risking being shot just to feed their families,” the statement read.
Medical sources stated that unprecedented rates of malnutrition are escalating in Gaza, particularly among children and the elderly. “Illnesses like acute watery diarrhea are spreading, markets are empty, waste is piling up, and adults are collapsing on the streets from hunger and dehydration,” the sources added.
Ninety percent of families are experiencing severe food scarcity, with many unable to access sufficient food or safe drinking water. One million children in the enclave are at risk of acute malnutrition.
The NGOs called on the world’s leaders to take urgent action to break the Israeli restrictions imposed on Gaza crossings and allow food entry to save lives. They also urged all countries to stop supporting Israel and to impose an embargo on arms exports.
The NGOs urged “it is time to take decisive action: demand an immediate and permanent ceasefire; lift all bureaucratic and administrative restrictions; open all land crossings; ensure access to everyone in all of Gaza; reject military-controlled distribution models; restore a principled, UN-led humanitarian response and continue to fund principled and impartial humanitarian organizations,”. “States must pursue concrete measures to end the siege, such as halting the transfer of weapons and ammunition” they added.Â
“Piecemeal arrangements and symbolic gestures, like airdrops or flawed aid deals, serve as a smokescreen for inaction,” they said. “They cannot replace states’ legal and moral obligations to protect Palestinian civilians and ensure meaningful access at scale. States can and must save lives before there are none left to save”.
