World Food Program

Civil Society Groups Call for Diplomatic Convoy to Get Aid Into Gaza as 2 Million Face Starvation

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

A boy sits with an empty pot at a charity distribution in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on May 19, 2025.
 (Photo: Bashar Taleb/AFP via Getty Images)

“The risk of famine in Gaza is increasing with the deliberate withholding of humanitarian aid,” said the head of the World Health Organization.

As Israeli leaders were split over a plan to allow a “minimal” amount of aid into Gaza on Monday, Palestinian and global civil society groups issued a call for an international humanitarian mission that would go much further in fighting the looming famine across the enclave.

With the World Food Program and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East having “exhausted their reserves,” more than 750 international groups joined “Unified Call to Confront Famine” and ensure the blockade stopping more than 3,000 food aid trucks and 116,000 metric tons of food are allowed into the enclave.

“We are witnessing, in real time, the deliberate starvation of a civilian population as a method of warfare,” said Human Rights Watch (HRW), which also joined the call, in a statement. “Over 2 million Palestinians in Gaza are living in famine.”

The group echoed an address by Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), at the World Health Assembly on Monday in Geneva.

“The risk of famine in Gaza is increasing with the deliberate withholding of humanitarian aid,” said Tedros. “The WHO has said around a quarter of the 2.1 million population in Gaza are facing ‘a catastrophic situation of hunger, acute malnutrition, starvation, illness, and death’ due to the Israeli blockade.”

With aid that is “ready and waiting to enter Gaza” entirely blockaded by Israel since March 2, just before the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) broke a temporary cease-fire, civil society groups said states should join a “Diplomatic Humanitarian Convoy to Gaza through the Rafah Crossing.”

In the convoy, official diplomatic missions would accompany thousands of aid trucks into Gaza, coordinating with the United Nations and the government of Egypt.

“Inaction will lead to mass death by starvation, enable further grave illegalities, and undermine the international legal system.”

Supporting groups noted that governments that are “complicit in the ongoing atrocities,” such as the U.S., the top international IDF funder, and called on “individual diplomats, parliamentarians, and ministers from those countries to join the convoy in their personal capacities.” They also called on international media outlets to join—”to bear witness, to document the famine, and to expose the blockade starving Gaza.”

“This is a human imperative,” said HRW. “A Diplomatic Humanitarian Convoy would mark a historic step to break the siege, end the starvation, and affirm the world’s rejection of hunger as a weapon of war.”

The call came a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the government’s “greatest friends in the world” had made clear that they “cannot accept images of hunger, mass hunger.”

Images of Palestinians in Gaza suffering from a lack of food, medicine, water, and other aid have been widely available since long before the current blockade, but Netanyahu’s comments suggested that allies like the U.S. government have applied pressure to allow aid into the enclave.

On his trip to the Middle East last week, U.S. President Donald Trump said the U.S. would have the looming famine in Gaza “taken care of.”

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a United Nations-backed food insecurity initiative, said last week that at least 244,000 people in Gaza are facing Phase 5-level hunger, defined as “extreme deprivation of food.”

“Starvation, death, destitution, and extremely critical levels of acute malnutrition are or will likely be evident,” said the IPC.

The entire enclave is in Phase 4, which is characterized by “large food consumption gaps… very high acute malnutrition and excess mortality.”

Aid and medical workers are struggling to treat thousands of children who have been diagnosed with acute malnutrition.

“We currently are lacking nutrition rehabilitation supplies and equipment, including pharmaceuticals,” said Richard Peeperkorn, WHO representative in the occupied Palestinian territories. “Because of the blockades, supplies are dwindling rapidly.”

Nutritionist Rana Soboh told The Associated Press Monday that she treated a mother who had fainted while breastfeeding her newborn after having gone days without eating.

The next day Soboh met a mother of a malnourished 1-year-old boy who weighed just 11 pounds, having lived his entire life during Israel’s bombardment of Gaza and the near-total blockade that began in October 2023 in retaliation for a Hamas-led attack.

“He hadn’t grown any teeth,” the AP reported. “He was too weak to cry. The mother was also malnourished, ‘a skeleton, covered in skin.’ When the mother asked for food, Soboh started crying uncontrollably.”

A U.N. official said Monday that under Netanyahu’s plan to provide “minimal” aid, 20 aid trucks carrying food was expected to enter Gaza; before Israel began its assault on Gaza, about 500 trucks entered the enclave per day.

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has objected to the tiny amount of food that may soon enter Gaza, saying it will “fuel Hamas and give it oxygen.”

Netanyahu said the plan would be a “bridge” to a new aid system in which a private foundation and U.S. security contractors would distribute humanitarian assistance. The U.N. has rejected the proposal, saying it is “at odds with the DNA of any principled humanitarian organization.”

HRW said the call for all humanitarian aid to enter Gaza in diplomatic convoy was grounded in “international law, shared morality, the Genocide Convention, the International Court of Justice’s provisional measures, [and] the U.N. Charter.”

“Inaction,” said the group, “will lead to mass death by starvation, enable further grave illegalities, and undermine the international legal system.”

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

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.
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
Vote For Genocide Vote Labour.
Vote For Genocide Vote Labour.
Continue ReadingCivil Society Groups Call for Diplomatic Convoy to Get Aid Into Gaza as 2 Million Face Starvation

Palestinian Envoy to ICJ: Israel Using Starvation as ‘Weapon of War’ in ‘Genocidal Campaign’

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

Palestinian ambassador Ammar Hijazi (R) looks on as he attends an interrogation on Israel’s humanitarian obligations towards Palestinians at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands on April 28, 2025. (Photo: Robin Utrecht/ANP/AFP via Getty Images)

“Israel is starving, killing and displacing Palestinians while also targeting and blocking humanitarian organizations trying to save their lives,” said Palestinian envoy Ammar Hijazi.

With Israel’s “total and complete blockade” leaving people across Gaza “slowly dying” if they aren’t being “killed with bombs and bullets,” according to one United Nations official, Palestinian envoy Ammar Hijazi was among those who described the reality on the ground to the U.N.’s top court on Monday as the body considered Israel’s legal obligations in Palestine.

Ammar Hijazi, Palestinian ambassador to the Netherlands, warned the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that since October 2023, Israel’s blockade on humanitarian aid “has progressively turned into a total siege.”

“Israel is starving, killing, and displacing Palestinians, while also targeting and blocking humanitarian organizations trying to save their lives,” he said, accusing the Israeli military of waging a “genocidal campaign” in Gaza.

On March 2, for the second time since the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) began bombarding Gaza in retaliation for a Hamas-led attack in October 2023, Israel halted all humanitarian aid into the enclave. The total blockade was followed by Israel’s decision to end a cease-fire that has begun in January, conducting a bombing campaign that killed hundreds of Palestinians in its first day.

For nearly two months, food supplies have dwindled in Gaza, and the World Food Program announced last week that it had delivered its last remaining stocks of hot meals to food kitchens.

The siege has created conditions that are “incompatible with sustaining life or the continued existence of Palestinians in Gaza,” Hijazi said.

The ambassador noted that the ICJ hearing was taking place to consider whether Israel is violating international law.

“It is not about the number of aid trucks Israel is or is not allowing into the Occupied Palestinian Territories, especially Gaza,” said Hijazi. “It is about Israel destroying the fundamentals of life in Palestine while it blocks U.N. and other humanitarians from providing lifesaving aid to the population. It is about Israel unraveling fundamental principles of international law, including their obligations under the U.N. Charter.”

“Starvation is here,” Hijazi added. “Humanitarian aid is being used as a weapon of war.”

The hearing on Monday was the first of several that will take place at the ICJ over the next five days, following a resolution passed by the U.N. General Assembly last year calling on the court to consider Israel’s legal responsibilities after the government blocked the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) from operating in the Palestinian territories—cutting Palestinians off from the agency that has for years provided crucial food aid, cash assistance, and health services, among other necessities.

Elinor Hammarskjold, U.N. undersecretary-general for legal affairs, argued during the hearing that Israel’s ban on UNRWA is “inconsistent with Israel’s obligation under international law” and warned that Israel has an “overarching obligation to administer the territory for the benefit of the local population” and must “agree to and facilitate relief schemes.”

As the hearing was underway, medical sources in Gaza toldAl Jazeera that at least 36 people had been killed in Israeli attacks since dawn while eight out of 12 ambulances in southern Gaza were no longer operating due to a lack of fuel.

The Palestinian Civil Defense said its capacity to respond to residents in need will be increasingly reduced by the blockade, “threatening the lives of hundreds of thousands of citizens and displaced persons in shelters.”

“We hold the Israeli occupation responsible for the worsening suffering of our people in the Gaza Strip due to the ongoing war and the continued imposition of the blockade,” said the civil defense.

In addition to describing to the court the impact of Israel’s blockade, Hijazi spoke about the IDF’s attacks that have killed hundreds of aid workers, including nearly 300 UNRWA staff members and dozens of paramedics.

“These killings are deliberate, not accidental,” he said of the killing earlier this month of 15 paramedics who were found with bullet wounds in a mass grave, and whose vehicles were shown to be clearly marked in cellphone footage that was later released—despite Israeli claims that they had provoked suspicion by driving in the dark without headlights on.

One of the attorneys representing Palestine at the ICJ, Paul Reichler, said that “the inhumanity of this Israeli policy is compounded by its unlawful objective: to forever extinguish the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination.”

“In these circumstances, there can be no doubt that Israel is violating its obligations under international humanitarian law, including obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention and customary international law,” said Reichler.

Blinne Ní Ghrálaigh, another of the international human rights lawyers who represented Palestine at the ICJ on Monday, cataloged just some of Israel’s recent displays of hostility to the rule of law, noting that Defense Minister Israel Katz said earlier this month that “Israel’s policy is clear: No humanitarian aid will enter Gaza,” and that the Israeli government is planning to annex 75 square kilometers of the southern Gaza city of Rafah as part of a so-called “buffer zone.”

Ní Ghrálaigh emphasized that “despite the extraordinary efforts of Palestinian journalists, who are themselves repeatedly targeted and killed, so much remains undocumented.”

“As stated by UNRWA’s commissioner-general, I quote, ‘I shudder to think of what will still be revealed about the horrors that have taken place in this narrow strip of land,'” she said.

Forty states and four international groups are scheduled to present in the upcoming ICJ hearings, which are separate from the genocide case filed at the court by South Africa. The ICJ said in January 2024 that Israel was required to take steps to protect Palestinians in Gaza from the risk of genocide and to provide humanitarian aid.

A ruling in the case that began Monday is expected to take several months to be announced.

Original article by Julia Conley 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 Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are participants and complicit in Israel's Gaza genocide providing Israel with army 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 Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are participants and complicit in Israel’s Gaza genocide providing Israel with army and air force support.
Continue ReadingPalestinian Envoy to ICJ: Israel Using Starvation as ‘Weapon of War’ in ‘Genocidal Campaign’

UN World Food Program Denounces Israeli Attack on ‘Clearly Marked’ Convoy in Gaza

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

Humanitarian aid trucks belonging to the World Food Program arrive in Gaza on September 26, 2024.  (Photo: Hasan Zaain/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“This unacceptable event is just the latest example of the complex and dangerous working environment that WFP and other agencies are operating in today,” said the United Nations agency.

The United Nations World Food Program said Monday that Israeli forces opened fire on one of the organization’s aid convoys at a checkpoint in central Gaza over the weekend, an attack that the organization condemned as “horrifying.”

“This unacceptable event is just the latest example of the complex and dangerous working environment that WFP and other agencies are operating in today,” the organization said in a statement, noting that the convoy was “clearly marked” and that it had “received all of the necessary clearances from Israeli authorities” prior to Sunday’s attack.

“Security conditions in Gaza must urgently improve for lifesaving humanitarian assistance to continue,” WFP said, urging “all parties to respect international humanitarian law, protect civilian lives, and allow safe passage for humanitarian aid.”

At least 16 bullets struck the WFP convoy on Sunday, but none of the eight staffers traveling in the three vehicles that came under Israeli attack on Sunday were killed or wounded, WFP said.

It was nonetheless a “terrifying encounter” that underscored the dangers facing aid workers attempting to deliver food and other necessities to starving and desperate people across the Gaza Strip.

Last year was the deadliest on record for aid workers around the world, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, with Israeli attacks in Gaza fueling a surge in killings.

Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), said in an October speech to the U.N. Security Council that Gaza is “the most dangerous place in the world for aid workers.”

Sunday wasn’t the first time Israeli forces have fired on a WFP convoy in Gaza during their 15-month assault on the Palestinian enclave. Last August, the WFP was forced to temporarily halt employee movements in Gaza after Israeli soldiers fired on one of the U.N. agency’s vehicles.

Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, said Monday that WFP is “trying to get the answers” from Israeli forces on why they once again fired on an aid convoy, an attack that came as a new round of cease-fire talks began in Doha, brokered by Qatar and Egypt.

“I don’t think there’s an explanation for shooting at a clearly marked convoy from the World Food Program, whose movements had been completely coordinated with the Israeli security forces,” said Dujarric.

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

Continue ReadingUN World Food Program Denounces Israeli Attack on ‘Clearly Marked’ Convoy in Gaza

‘Israel’s Starvation Strategy’: IDF Fires on World Food Program Team

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Original article by Jake Johnson republished from Common Dreams under a CC licence.

A photo shows a World Food Program vehicle damaged by Israeli gunfire. (Photo: World Food Program)

“This is totally unacceptable and the latest in a series of unnecessary security incidents that have endangered the lives of WFP’s team in Gaza.”

The World Food Program said Wednesday that it was forced to suspend the movement of its employees in Gaza after the Israeli military fired on one of the United Nations agency’s teams as its clearly marked vehicle advanced toward an Israeli checkpoint in the Palestinian enclave.

The agency said in a statement that the WFP team was returning from a mission with two armored vehicles “after escorting a convoy of trucks carrying humanitarian cargo routed to Gaza’s central area.”

“Despite being clearly marked and receiving multiple clearances by Israeli authorities to approach, the vehicle was directly struck by gunfire as it was moving towards an Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) checkpoint,” WFP said. “It sustained at least ten bullets: five on the driver’s side, two on the passenger side, and three on other parts of the vehicle. None of the employees onboard were physically harmed.”

While the WFP’s statement doesn’t explicitly attribute the gunfire to Israeli forces, U.N. spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told reporters Wednesday that the food agency’s vehicle was “struck 10 times by IDF gunfire, including with bullets targeting front windows.”

Cindy McCain, WFP’s executive director, said the attack was “totally unacceptable and the latest in a series of unnecessary security incidents that have endangered the lives of WFP’s team in Gaza.”

“As last night’s events show, the current deconfliction system is failing and this cannot go on any longer,” said McCain. “I call on the Israeli authorities and all parties to the conflict to act immediately to ensure the safety and security of all aid workers in Gaza.”

The Israeli military’s latest attack on aid workers in Gaza came as famine continued to spread across the strip, which Israel has strangled with a blockade that has restricted the flow of food and other necessities.

Kenneth Roth, the former executive director of Human Rights Watch, characterized the WFP attack as part of “Israel’s starvation strategy.” Israeli forces have repeatedly targeted humanitarian workers in Gaza, making the enclave the most dangerous place in the world for aid agency employees.

Chef José Andrés, the founder of a nonprofit whose Gaza team came under deadly attack by Israeli forces earlier this year, expressed solidarity with the WFP in a social media post late Wednesday.


WFP did not say how long its pause on employee movement would stay in place, but any disruption to the agency’s humanitarian operations could be disastrous for starving Palestinians.

In its statement Wednesday, the U.N. food agency said that Israel’s “frequent and ongoing evacuation orders continue to uproot both families and food relief operations intended to support them.”

“Last week, WFP lost access to its third and last operational warehouse in Gaza’s middle area, while five of WFP’s operated community kitchens had to be evacuated,” the agency said. “This week, on Sunday 25 August, the evacuation orders impacted the main WFP operating hub in Deir al-Balah, forcing our team to relocate for the third time since the war started.”

Original article by Jake Johnson republished from Common Dreams under a CC licence.

Continue Reading‘Israel’s Starvation Strategy’: IDF Fires on World Food Program Team