ISTANBUL

The Palestinian group Hamas accused Israel on Thursday of engineering a famine in the Gaza Strip and warned against the establishment of detention camps in the south under the pretext of humanitarian aid distribution.

In a statement, the group said Israel was “systematically starving over two million Palestinians in Gaza by restricting humanitarian aid and tying it to political and security conditions.”

“This policy is part of what is now known as ‘starvation engineering,’ attempting to impose facts on the ground through a ‘ghetto aid’ plan, falsely presenting the crime as a humanitarian solution,” the statement said.

It added that the aid allowed into Gaza after 81 days of an Israeli blockade “is not even a drop in the ocean compared to what is needed.”

The group estimated that the enclave requires at least 500 aid trucks daily to meet basic needs, yet the number allowed in is less than one-tenth of that.

The crisis is worsening due to growing displacement, a collapsed health system and widespread hunger, particularly among children, it said.

Gaza’s Government Media Office confirmed that 87 trucks entered Wednesday for the first time in nearly three months but emphasized the need for 500 aid and 50 fuel trucks daily to sustain life amid severe famine conditions.

Hamas also cautioned that the Israeli military is “using aid as cover to implement a plan resembling detention camps in southern Gaza,” describing it as “a colonial scheme doomed to fail in the face of our people’s determination.”

The group called on the international community and humanitarian organizations to “immediately break the siege, reject engineered starvation and humiliation and ensure a free and permanent humanitarian corridor.”

Israel and the US have promoted a new aid distribution mechanism that critics say aims to depopulate northern Gaza by redirecting Palestinians toward the south, particularly Rafah.

Israeli Army Radio reported Tuesday that the plan stipulates that all residents of the northern Gaza Strip who are heading to an aid distribution center south of the Salah al-Din axis will not be allowed to return to the northern Gaza Strip.

It added that in this way, Israel intends to accelerate the evacuation of Gazans from the northern Gaza Strip and that it will be possible to “completely empty” the area of its population.

On Thursday, Israel’s public broadcaster KAN reported that food distribution by a US company is set to begin Sunday via four centers – one in central Gaza’s Netzarim corridor and three near Rafah.

Since March 2, Israel has maintained a total closure of Gaza’s crossings, which aid agencies say has plunged the enclave into famine and led to numerous deaths.