The United Nations Calls There Is Only A Short Time To Stop The Spread Of Starvation In Gaza

Gazans while queuing for food. (Source: WHO)

JAKARTA - There is a "small window" to prevent hunger from spreading further in Gaza, a top UN official said on Sunday, urging Israel to allow unrestricted aid deliveries in the Palestinian enclave.

According to global hunger monitoring, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have experienced or are at risk of starvation in various areas including Gaza City, the largest city center in the enclave, where Israel has launched a new attack on Hamas.

Israel, which halted all aid for 11 weeks from March to mid-May, said it was making more efforts to allow aid to enter and distribute in the enclave to prevent food shortages, although international agencies said much was needed.

"There is a narrow window (time) until the end of September to prevent hunger from spreading to Deir al Balah (in central Gaza) and Khan Younis (south Gaza). The window is now closed quickly," said UN aid chief Tom Fletcher.

Meanwhile, COGAT, Israel's defense agency that handles humanitarian issues, said on Sunday, over the past week aid from more than 1,900 trucks, mostly supplying food, had been distributed in Gaza.

"We will continue to facilitate humanitarian aid to Gaza for civilians, not Hamas," COGAT said in a statement.

Israel last month launched an attack on the outskirts of Gaza City and its troops now just a few kilometers from the city center, in which Israel issued a weekend warning to civilians to flee tall buildings it said were used by Hamas, before bombing it.

Israel did not provide evidence indicating Hamas used the buildings, a charge the militant group denies.

Overnight, attacks killed 14 people across the city, local health officials said, including an attack on a school south of Gaza City that houses displaced Palestinians.

The Israeli military (IDF) said it had attacked a Hamas militant and that civilians had been warned before the attack was carried out.

The IDF on Saturday also warned Gaza City civilians to flee south, including Khan Younis, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have taken refuge in narrow tents along the coast.

With hundreds of thousands of people still living in Gaza City, the pressure to end the war is increasing.

"We told Hamas we wanted a ceasefire, end this war before Gaza's city turned into ruins like Rafah," said Emad, a resident of Gaza City, referring to Israel's previous southern Gaza City in the war.

"We want this war to end. How long will this last? How many lives will be wasted? That's enough," he said by telephone, asking that his last name not be published.

It is known that a Palestinian militant group led by Hamas attacked Israel's southern region on October 7, 2023, leaving 1,200 people dead and another 251 held hostage, according to Israeli calculations.

It was retaliated by carrying out airstrikes, blockades and ground operations by Israel in Gaza.

Israel and Palestinian militants had a temporary ceasefire on January 19 before ending on March 18 and Israel returned to attack Gaza.

This war is also increasingly unpopular among Israelis. On Saturday night, tens of thousands of protesters joined the families of the hostages in a demonstration, calling for an end to the war and demanding the release of the hostages.

Twenty of the 48 hostages still in Gaza are believed to be alive.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said the war could end soon if Hamas released the hostages and laid their weapons down.

"We will be happy to achieve this goal in political ways," he said at a news conference in Jerusalem.

In response, senior Hamas official Basem Naim said the group would not strip off weapons but would release all hostages if Israel ended the war and withdrew all its troops from Gaza, reaffirming the long-standing Hamas position.

Separately, Gaza's Ministry of Health on Sunday confirmed that the death toll of Palestinians in the enclave since Israeli aggression in October 2023 had reached 64,368 people - 387 of whom died from hunger and malnutrition, including 138 children, - while injured victims reached 162,776, quoted from WAFA.