Israel bombs Gaza amid call for action against famine
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Israeli planes and tanks have bombed eastern areas of Gaza City, killing at least 11 people, witnesses and medics say, with Hamas leader Khalil Al-Hayya arriving in Cairo for talks to revive a US-backed ceasefire plan.
The latest round of indirect talks in Qatar ended in deadlock in late July with Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas trading blame over the lack of progress on a US proposal for a 60-day truce and hostage release deal.
Israel has since said it will launch a new offensive and seize control of Gaza City, which it captured shortly after the war’s outbreak in October 2023 before pulling out.
Hamas’ meetings with Egyptian officials, scheduled to begin on Wednesday, will focus on ways to stop the war, deliver aid, and “end the suffering of our people in Gaza,” Hamas official Taher al-Nono said in a statement.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to expand military control over Gaza, expected to be launched in October, has increased a global outcry over the widespread devastation, displacement and hunger afflicting Gaza’s 2.2 million people.
The humanitarian crisis in Gaza has reached “unimaginable levels,” according to Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada and several of their European allies, with the countries calling on Israel to allow in unrestricted aid.
“Famine is unfolding before our eyes. Urgent action is needed now to halt and reverse starvation,” the foreign ministers of 24 countries said in a joint statement.
“We call on the government of Israel to provide authorisation for all international NGO (non-governmental organisations) aid shipments and to unblock essential humanitarian actors from operating.”
Israel has denied responsibility for hunger spreading in the Gaza Strip, accusing Hamas militants of stealing aid shipments – which Hamas denies.
However, in response to a rising international uproar, Israel late last month announced steps to let more aid into the enclave, including pausing fighting for part of the day in some areas and announcing protected routes for aid convoys.
Some governments, however, say much more aid is needed.
The statement was signed by the foreign ministers of Australia, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.
The European Union sent an updated statement to include EU members Italy and Latvia as signatories of the statement.EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, and two other members of the European Commission also signed the statement.
Some EU member countries, including Germany and Hungary, did not sign it.
Meanwhile, five more people, including two children, died of starvation and malnutrition in Gaza in the past 24 hours, the territory’s health ministry said.
The new deaths raised the number of deaths from the same causes to 227, including 103 children, since the war started, it added.
Israel disputes the malnutrition fatality figures reported by the health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave.
The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing 1200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures.
Israel’s offensive against Hamas in Gaza since then has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials.
Reuters
