Human rights advocates argue that airdrops and maritime routes are an insufficient substitute to aid delivery by land.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/17490070

humanitarian organizations, many of which have been sounding alarms about the hunger crisis in Gaza for months, are not impressed. They argue that air and sea deliveries are not only an insufficient substitute for humanitarian aid delivered by land, but a dehumanizing one that acts as a distraction to the man-made barriers that have prevented more aid from getting into Gaza in the first place. “There is no good reason why aid cannot access Gaza by road today,”

  • @[email protected]English
    3•8 months ago

    Hunger is most acute in northern Gaza, which has been isolated by Israeli forces and has suffered long cutoffs of food supplies. At least 20 people have died from malnutrition and dehydration at the north’s Kamal Adwan and Shifa hospitals, according to the Health Ministry. At the Emirati Hospital in Rafah, 16 premature babies have died of malnutrition-related causes over the past five weeks, one of the senior doctors told The Associated Press.

    According to the Health Ministry in Gaza, at least 23 children and four adults have died of malnutrition and dehydration at hospitals in northern Gaza. The World Health Organization has warned of an “explosion” in child deaths if aid doesn’t reach people immediately.

    For two million hungry Gazans, most days bring a difficult search for something to eat. The war, including Israel’s bombardment and siege, has choked food imports and destroyed agriculture, and nearly the entire population of Gaza relies on scant humanitarian aid to eat.

    Over 64% of people in Gaza were food insecure before this latest Massacre due to the Blockade.

    • 【J】【u】【s】【t】【Z】English
      1•8 months ago

      Yes North Gaza has the worst hunger crisis. That was Hamas’s stronghold. Sounds like poor planning for siege warfare but then all the Hamas muckety mucks went and made it out through the tunnels didn’t they? Only left their people behind. If I were prosecuting the war I would have told people to evacuate from North Gaza five months ago and then would go door to door to make sure everyone was gone. Troops might get jumpy though sneaking around alleyways, definitely not safe, probably should have evacuated. Might have, too, if Hamas wasn’t there telling everyone it was just a hoax and to instead all have big family gatherings right on top of the tunnels and then turn off their phones.

      You see a story like “whole families wiped out” and that’s it. You are looking for someone to immediately blame and it’s super easy to blame the people that sent the bomb. Next time, take a deep breath and think about it for a few seconds maybe you’ll start asking yourself actually relevant questions to figure or who actually wants those people to be killed and who actually just wants the killing to stop.

      • @[email protected]English
        2•8 months ago

        Totally, it’s not like Israel has been deliberately targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure. Including ‘safe zones,’ many times without any warning.

        According to the sources who spoke to +972 and Local Call, the targets in Gaza that have been struck by Israeli aircraft can be divided roughly into four categories. The first is “tactical targets,” which include standard military targets such as armed militant cells, weapon warehouses, rocket launchers, anti-tank missile launchers, launch pits, mortar bombs, military headquarters, observation posts, and so on.

        The second is “underground targets” — mainly tunnels that Hamas has dug under Gaza’s neighborhoods, including under civilian homes. Aerial strikes on these targets could lead to the collapse of the homes above or near the tunnels.

        The third is “power targets,” which includes high-rises and residential towers in the heart of cities, and public buildings such as universities, banks, and government offices. The idea behind hitting such targets, say three intelligence sources who were involved in planning or conducting strikes on power targets in the past, is that a deliberate attack on Palestinian society will exert “civil pressure” on Hamas.

        The final category consists of “family homes” or “operatives’ homes.” The stated purpose of these attacks is to destroy private residences in order to assassinate a single resident suspected of being a Hamas or Islamic Jihad operative. However, in the current war, Palestinian testimonies assert that some of the families that were killed did not include any operatives from these organizations.

        In the early stages of the current war, the Israeli army appears to have given particular attention to the third and fourth categories of targets. According to statements on Oct. 11 by the IDF Spokesperson, during the first five days of fighting, half of the targets bombed — 1,329 out of a total 2,687 — were deemed power targets.

        “I have ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip. There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed,” “We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly"

        • Yoav Gallant Minister of Defense