Famine imminent in northern Gaza amid Israel’s closure of crossings, media office warns

GAZA CITY, Palestine

Gaza’s government media office warned Sunday of a looming famine in the northern Gaza Strip amid Israel’s closure of the territory’s crossings.

“The humanitarian crisis is deepening in Gaza…as Israel continues to tighten its blockade on the entire enclave,” the media office said in a statement.

It said that less than 100 aid trucks entered the besieged enclave via a US-built pier on Gaza’s coast over the past week.

“Only 214 trucks were allowed into northern Gaza last week via a point (established by the Israeli army) west of Beit Lahia, including 109 loaded with flour, and only 6 medicine trucks,” it added.

The media office appealed to the international community to pressure Israel “to allow the entry of aid convoys via land crossings such as Rafah and Kerem Shalom.”

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

Nearly 36,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, the vast majority being women and children, and over 80,600 others injured since October following an attack by Hamas.

Nearly eight months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of “genocide” at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which in its latest ruling has ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in Rafah, a city in southern Gaza where more than a million displaced Palestinians had sought refuge.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala