Famine. Cartoon of 10/03/2024 in CTXT
Israel is using every method, each one more twisted and macabre, to continue the extermination of the Palestinians. Starving them to death is one of the latest, when it is not slaughtering them as they approach to collect humanitarian aid shipments.
Three more Palestinian children died of dehydration and malnutrition in Al Shifa Hospital, according to Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qidra. According to the same source, the number of Palestinians who have died of similar causes in about 10 days now stands at 23.
"Have youseen the pictures of the Palestinian children?" asked Riyad Mansour, Observer to the United Nations for the State of Palestine, as he showed a photograph during the 4 March debate at the UN General Assembly on the United States' misuse of its veto power to prevent UN action against genocide in Gaza. "This child died today," he said as he held up a picture of the child. Palestinian children die in darkness and misery, while Israel uses starvation as a weapon.
However, the number of people dying from starvation depends on the source and the day you count, the figure is rising and already there is talk of at least 25 dead from lack of food or water.
The UN's worst predictions at the beginning of the month, which predicted a terrible famine in a scenario of utter desolation, are coming true. The humanitarian situation in the Strip is becoming increasingly desperate due to the intentional lack of food.
Related: "We scream, starve and die alone": life in the rubble of Shuja'iya
Time is another enemy. "Once a famine is declared, it's too late for many people," said OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke, recalling that half a million people in Gaza are already effectively suffering from famine, there is no commercial flow of food, humanitarian aid trucks are trickling in, and it is very difficult for them to move once they are inside.
The "normality" remains genocide. Gaza's health ministry said at least 20 people were killed and 155 injured on Thursday by Israeli shelling at the Kuwaiti roundabout in Gaza as they waited for desperately needed food. Israel in its usual cynical manner denied responsibility.
It is becoming increasingly difficult to put words to the atrocities that the murderous state of Israel continues to commit while those who can and should prevent it continue to let them do so.
