medical staff

Starvation Being Used as Weapon of War as ‘Israel’s Genocide Has Continued Unabated in Gaza,’ Says Amnesty

Spread the love

Original article by Brad Reed republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

A woman holding a girl reacts after Israeli airstrikes hit Ridwan neighborhood of Gaza City, Gaza on October 23, 2023. (Photo: Ali Jadallah/Anadolu via Getty Images) Palestinians gather for receive food on July 03, 2025 in Khan Yunis, Gaza. (Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Human rights organization Amnesty International has released a horrifying new report alleging that the Israeli government is still deliberately allowing civilians in Gaza to starve as a “weapon of war.”

In its report released on Thursday, Amnesty cites “heartbreaking testimonies gathered from medical staff, parents of children hospitalized for malnutrition, and displaced Palestinians struggling to survive” to document “acute levels of starvation and desperation in Gaza.”

The report pins the primary blame for this situation on Israel’s insistence on running what Amnesty describes as a “militarized” system for delivering humanitarian aid via the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation that has resulted in hundreds of Palestinians being killed and thousands more being injured by Israeli forces who have opened fire on civilians seeking food in multiple instances.

Amnesty charges that the Israeli government has barred the United Nations and other international humanitarian assistance organizations from operating inside Gaza and has transformed the process of receiving aid into a “booby trap” for civilians who risk getting shot while standing in line for food. Compounding the problem, writes Amnesty, is that Israel is delivering a level of aid that is “way below the humanitarian needs of a population that has been experiencing almost daily bombings for the last 20 months.”

This slow trickle of aid is despite the fact that hundreds of trucks containing aid are stationed near the Egyptian border with Gaza but are barred from entering the territory, writes Amnesty.

“As the occupying power, Israel has a legal obligation to ensure Palestinians in Gaza have access to food, medicine and other supplies essential for their survival,” said Agnès Callamard, the secretary general of Amnesty International. “Instead, it has brazenly defied binding orders issued by the International Court of Justice in January, March and May 2024, to allow the unimpeded flow of aid to Gaza. Israel has continued to restrict the entry of aid and impose its suffocating cruel blockade and even a full siege lasting nearly eighty days.”

Amnesty released its report hours after the Associated Press reported that two American contractors who are helping to distribute aid in Gaza are alleging that Israeli forces have been deploying “live ammunition and stun grenades” on unarmed civilians seeking food. In one instance, a contractor alleged he saw members of Israeli forces firing bullets in “all directions—in the air, into the ground, and at times toward the Palestinians.”

“There are innocent people being hurt,” said one contractor, who wished to remain anonymous to avoid retaliation for revealing information on their employer’s internal operations. “Badly. Needlessly.”

The Israeli Foreign Ministry defended its aid program to Gaza in a post on the social media platform X and baselessly accused Amnesty of being in league with the terrorist organization Hamas.

Original article by Brad Reed republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Experiencing issues with this image not appearing. I suspect because it's so critical of Zionist Keir Starmer's support of and complicity in Israel's genocides.
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpA
UK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel's Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don't do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.
UK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel’s Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don’t do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.
Vote Labour for Genocide.
Vote Labour for Genocide.
Continue ReadingStarvation Being Used as Weapon of War as ‘Israel’s Genocide Has Continued Unabated in Gaza,’ Says Amnesty

Gaza Ministry Says 50 Killed in a Day as Israel Bombs Flour Line, Hospital, and Refugee Camps

Spread the love

Original article by Jessica Corbett republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)

Relatives mourn at al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital after Israel forces attacked the al-Maghazi refugee camp in Deir al-Balah, Gaza on December 9, 2024.  (Photo: Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“We demand international protection for hospitals, patients, and medical staff,” said the Gaza Ministry of Health.

The death toll from Israel’s 14-month assault on the Gaza Strip hit at least 44,758 on Monday, with 50 people killed in the past 24 hours alone, as Israeli forces bombed refugee camps, a flour distribution line, and a hospital, according to reporters and officials in the Palestinian enclave.

The Gaza Ministry of Health said a bombing at the Indonesian Hospital north of Gaza City wounded six patients—who are now among more than 106,000 Palestinians injured since Israel began its retaliation for last year’s Hamas-led attack.

“We demand international protection for hospitals, patients, and medical staff,” the ministry said in a statement reported by The Associated Press—which noted that Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed Sunday evening it was unaware of any attack on the hospital “in the last three to four hours.”

A nurse shared footage from the hospital with Drop Site News, which circulated the material on social media:

https://twitter.com/DropSiteNews/status/1865814030159581679?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1865814030159581679%7Ctwgr%5E84a730719f4662a2094a959dc40ca8d6e29891ba%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2Fdeath-toll-in-gaza

Sorry, this content could not be embedded.
X

According to Al Jazeera, “Overnight, an Israeli attack in the southern city of Rafah also killed 10 people while they had lined up to buy flour.”

Israel, which faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice, has been accused of starving Gaza’s 2.3 million residents by refusing to allow enough humanitarian aid into the besieged enclave.

Reporting from central Deir al-Balah, Al Jazeera‘s Hani Mahmoud said that at least three people were killed in a Monday morning attack on the Jabalia refugee camp in the north that Israeli bombing and the ongoing blockade have “turned into a graveyard.”

The victims “were trying to leave their home in search of food in the vicinity of their neighborhood when they were targeted by a drone,” the journalist said. “They were killed right away. Their bodies are still in the street and nobody has the ability to get to the bombed site and remove the bodies from the street.”

The IDF announced that three soldiers were killed and 12 others were wounded Monday in fighting in Jabalia.

Mahmoud, the journalist, also said Monday that bodies were piling up outside al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital after an Israeli bombing at the Bureij refugee camp.

“The agony keeps on unfolding here at al-Aqsa Hospital, where survivors and relatives showed up early this morning to collect the bodies from the morgue of the hospital,” he said. “At some point, the morgue of the hospital was packed with the bodies and there was not enough room for more bodies.”

https://twitter.com/QudsNen/status/1866158144662978826?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1866158144662978826%7Ctwgr%5E84a730719f4662a2094a959dc40ca8d6e29891ba%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2Fdeath-toll-in-gaza

Sorry, this content could not be embedded.
X

Citing the Palestinian news agency Wafa, Middle East Eye reported that “two children lost their lives, and others were injured on Monday, during Israeli shelling of al-Maghazi camp in the central Gaza Strip.”

The updates followed a Hamas delegation led by Khalil al-Hayya leaving Cairo Sunday evening after meeting with Egypt’s general intelligence chief, Maj. Gen. Hassan Rashad, to discuss a potential cease-fire in Gaza.

Israeli media reported Sunday that unnamed political sources claimed Hamas and Israel are close to reaching a “small” deal that would involve a two-month cease-fire; the release of prisoners who are elderly, women, wounded, and sick; and the IDF’s withdrawal from parts of Gaza.

Neither Hamas nor mediators Egypt and Qatar have commented on the reporting—which came over a week into an Israeli cease-fire with the Lebanese group Hezbollah that Israel has repeatedly violated since it took effect late last month.

In neighboring Syria, the government of President Bashar al-Assad collapsed over the weekend as he fled and rebels took control of the capital. Israel seized more of the country’s Golan Heights, which it has illegally occupied for decades, and the United States—which arms the IDF—launched airstrikes on over 75 Islamic State targets in Syria.

Original article by Jessica Corbett republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)

Continue ReadingGaza Ministry Says 50 Killed in a Day as Israel Bombs Flour Line, Hospital, and Refugee Camps