TRANSCRIPT
Gaza's Health Ministry says more than *59,000 Palestinians have been killed since the 7th of October 2023 when Hamas militants attacked Israeli settlements and a music festival, killing approximately 1,200 people and taking hostages.
Now, 652 days into the conflict that has displaced more than two million Palestinians and destroyed much of Gaza, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa is accusing Israel of deliberately starving civilians to gain leverage in the war.
"Israel continues to use starvation as a weapon of war, including the killing of more than 995 Palestinians who were waiting for aid from the death traps they (Israelis) have set up. ... In the absence of sustained and large-scale access to life-saving humanitarian aid, the Gaza Strip faces the risk of sliding into catastrophic famine, further chaos and additional mass loss of life."
Those concerns were echoed at the United Nations General Assembly, where Secretary-General Antonio Guterres [[goo-TAIR-esh]] issued a blunt condemnation of recent attacks on civilians queuing for food.
"Over the weekend in Gaza, we saw yet more mass shootings and killings of people seeking UN aid for their families - an atrocious and inhumane act, which I utterly condemn. We need an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the immediate release of all hostages and unimpeded humanitarian access as a first step to achieve the two-state solution."
The UN's World Food Program now says hunger has reached astonishing levels.
Ross Smith, who oversees the Program’s emergency response, says food convoys are being blocked or attacked, and aid workers are facing near-impossible conditions.
“The hunger crisis in Gaza has certainly reached new and astonishing levels of desperation. We see, information we have is a third of the population are not eating for multiple days in a row, this includes women and children. And as I think it is through our assessments that have been released publicly, a quarter of the population are facing famine-like conditions. We see severe acute malnutrition surging – so more than, almost 100,000 women and children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition and need treatment as soon as possible.”
He described Sunday’s deadly incident involving a WFP convoy in northern Gaza as avoidable.
At least 80 Palestinians were killed after Israeli forces opened fire near the trucks.
“I can only highlight the critical nature of the ceasefire and the need for a ceasefire at the moment, so that we can move effectively. Yesterday's incident is one of the greatest tragedies we've seen for our operations in Gaza and elsewhere while we're trying to work, and it's completely avoidable, and it's an absolute tragedy.”
Israel claims it fired warning shots to remove a threat but has not commented directly on the WFP account.
As food supplies in Gaza have run out, charity kitchens in the enclave have shut down.
In Deir al-Balah, empty pots and cold ovens now symbolise a deepening hunger crisis.
Abu Hamza Fawaz operates a charity kitchen.
But that now has closed for the first time since the war began.
"Since the beginning of the war, we have not stopped for a single day, but we've been closed for two weeks because there isn't any kind of goods or anything to eat. Even if the prices were high we would say no problem, we'd buy. But now, there is nothing at all."
Israeli ground forces entered Deir al-Balah on Monday marking their first incursion into what had been a refuge for displaced Palestinian families and aid groups.
An Israeli official confirmed the operation is taking place, but would not say whether evacuation orders had been issued to humanitarian organisations.
The Israeli military says it remains in contact with aid groups and assists with relocations when needed.
Israel has seized large parts of Gaza and carved it up with military corridors from the border to the sea, in a bid to pressure Hamas into releasing more hostages.
In response, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum issued a stark warning about the latest advance in Deir al-Balah.
“The people of Israel will not forgive anyone who knowingly endangered the hostages, both the living and the deceased. No-one will be able to claim they didn’t know what was at stake.”
This comes as a joint statement, signed by Foreign Minister Penny Wong and more than 20 of her global counterparts - except the US, calls for an immediate end to Israel's violence in the strip and condemns the denial of humanitarian assistance to starving Palestinians.
In the UK Parliament, Foreign Secretary David Lammy has criticised Israel’s tactics.
"The Israeli government must answer, what possible military justification can there be for strikes that have killed desperate, starving children? What immediate actions are they taking to stop this litany of horrors, and what will they do to hold those responsible to account? ... I'm a steadfast supporter of Israel's security and its right to exist. ... and the horrors of October the 7th must never be forgotten. But I firmly believe the Israeli government's actions are doing untold damage to Israel's standing in the world. ... Netanyahu should listen to the Israeli people, 82 per cent of whom desperately want a ceasefire."
He also confirmed new UK funding for Palestinian governance and UN relief work but says negotiations, not military action, will free the hostages and stop the bloodshed.
Here in Australia, Greens Senator David Shoebridge has welcomed the government's tougher stance on Israel's war in Gaza but is urging it to halt the alleged transfer of weapons components to Israel.
The government denied in April that it was exporting arms, following an ABC report revealing the Israeli military had tested a weapon developed by a Canberra-based company.
A defence industry source claimed the components were first sent to the US for assembly, then shipped to Israel without Australian export approval.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese maintains no weapons were exported directly from Australia.
But Senator Shoebridge claims arms deals remain in place and must end immediately.
"Netanyahu and the extremist elements of the Israeli cabinet will not simply listen to words from Australia, even if it's joined with other countries. We need action. End the two-way arms trade, make these words mean something, because we have seen untold numbers of Palestinians being killed simply for the act of going to an aid station. When will it end?"
As for families in Gaza, desperation is growing, as they and their children slowly starve.
The food is there, just across the border, but between bullets and bureaucracy, it is out of reach.
Until a ceasefire holds, the death toll from starvation may rise even faster than from Israeli strikes.
