US stands alone as all other UN Security Council members acknowledge Gaza famine 'man-made'

​​​​​​​WASHINGTON

The US was the sole nation on the UN Security Council to refuse to acknowledge on Wednesday that a biting famine increasingly gripping the Gaza Strip is a "manmade crisis."

In all, 14 Security Council members sharply denounced "the use of starvation as a weapon of war," which they said in a statement is "clearly prohibited under international humanitarian law." They called "for an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire," the release of all hostages remaining in Gaza and a surge in humanitarian assistance.

The US was the sole member to refrain from signing on to the declaration, which said Israel must "immediately and unconditionally lift all restrictions on aid delivery," and calls on it "to immediately reverse its decision to further expand its military operation in Gaza with the aim of taking over Gaza City."

The Council met to discuss the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza with UN and humanitarian officials raising the alarm that famine is expanding across the besieged territory.

"The Gaza famine is here, an engineered famine, a predicted famine, a manmade famine," said Inga Ashing, the CEO of Save the Children. "As we speak, children in Gaza are systematically being starved to death. This is a deliberate policy. This is starvation as a method of war in its starkest terms."

Ashing said the non-profit's clinics in Gaza are packed with destitute children who are so malnourished that they "do not have the strength to speak or even cry out in agony. They lie there emaciated, quite literally, wasting away."

Joyce Msuya, the assistant secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, told Council members that more than half a million Palestinians in Gaza face "starvation, destitution and death," about one-quarter of the population. That number could rise to over 640,000 by the end of September.

Msuya said famine has been confirmed in the Gaza governorate, the once populous home to Gaza City, and is expected to spread to Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis by the end of next month, barring a major shift in the situation on the ground.

"Virtually no one in Gaza is untouched by hunger," she said. "Let us be clear: This famine is not a product of drought or some form of natural disaster. It’s a created catastrophe -- the result of a conflict that has caused massive civilian death, injury, destruction and forced displacement."

Gaza's Health Ministry confirmed Wednesday the deaths of 10 more people from starvation, including two children, raising the total famine-related deaths to 313. That includes 119 children.

Israel’s full blockade of Gaza, in place since early March, has created catastrophic conditions for its 2.4 million residents, leading to famine, widespread disease and the collapse of essential services.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice over its war on the enclave.