Northern Gaza is at risk of a looming famine, the World Health Organization said on Saturday, as Israel continues its bombardment of Gaza amid threats from the Biden administration to cut military aid to Israel if the country does not send more humanitarian aid into the country. enclave allows.
The Biden administration gave Israel a November 12 deadline to take specific steps to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, but the continuity of US policy toward Israel has become uncertain as President Joe Biden enters a post-election period of weakness from Donald Trump on Tuesday.
While Biden’s policies and weapons provisions have consistently supported Israel, his relationship with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been tense at times, including some attempts to contain Israel or push the country to comply with international law.
Trump, meanwhile, has staunchly supported Israel’s “right to win the war on terror,” and Netanyahu and other Israeli officials have greeted his election with enthusiasm. Netanyahu was one of the first world leaders to congratulate Trump by phone, calling Trump’s victory “the greatest comeback in history” in an exuberant post on X.
Trump’s election sparked celebrations in Israel and has raised concerns among observers about further escalation amid a deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
The WHO cited a Famine Review Committee report that said action was needed “within days, not weeks” to prevent a catastrophic famine.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to the statement, but said Friday it was preparing to open the Kissufim border crossing into southern Gaza as part of efforts to “increase the volume and routes of aid to Gaza.”
The IDF said on Saturday that 220 seriously injured and ill Palestinians and their caretakers were evacuated from Gaza last week.
It also said that 713 aid trucks have been brought to northern Gaza since early October.
However, this amounts to an average of only 18 trucks per day, much less than necessary. On Saturday, the IDF reported that “11 trucks carrying food, water and medical equipment” had entered the Jabaliya and Beit Hanoun areas of northern Gaza.
Before the current conflict began in October 2023, more than 500 trucks entered Gaza per day, according to the International Rescue Committee.
The Israeli parliament also voted in October to ban the activities of UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. UNRWA is the main organization providing humanitarian aid in Gaza, as well as essential services such as shelter, health care, education and psychological support.
Scott Paul, peace and security director for Oxfam America, told NBC News that the consequence of UNRWA’s failure “is that in the Gaza Strip, where more than 2.2 million people are barely hanging on – and many of them are already dying – their support system disappears.”
Last week, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the results of Israel’s efforts to meet U.S. aid demands so far were “not good enough” and that the recommendations had “not been met.”
But some believe a Trump administration could lead to a shift in U.S. policy toward Israel.
The country’s right-wing leaders were elated by Trump’s victory, two officials in Israel told NBC News. However, they also said the excitement was tempered by concerns that the Biden administration would increase pressure in its final days.
Fawaz Gerges, professor of international relations at the London School of Economics, feared that Trump would give Netanyahu a “green light” to continue the war in Gaza.
The famine warning came on the same day that the United Nations Human Rights Office said nearly 70% of the deaths it has verified in Gaza were women and children, and that 80% of them were killed in residential buildings.
According to the report, the highest number of deaths were among children between five and nine years old, followed closely by children between 10 and 14 years old, and then in babies up to four years old.
The report said it verified details of a sample of 8,119 people killed in Gaza between November 2023 and April 2024. Local health officials say at least 43,000 people have been killed since the war began, a number the UN considers reliable.
The IDF told NBC News’ British partner Sky News that it is “working to minimize harm to noncombatants ahead of the attacks, especially to women and children.”
“Any military action shall be carried out in accordance with the principles of discrimination and proportionality, and shall be preceded by a careful assessment of the potential harm to the civilian population. The IDF is committed to adhering to international legal obligations and operating under the laws of armed conflict,” the report said.
The Israeli military has also distanced itself from comments made by Brigadier General Itzik Cohen, who told Israeli reporters last week that it had “no intention to allow the residents of the northern Gaza Strip to return.”
It said the statement was “inaccurate and does not reflect the objectives of the IDF.”
Tens of thousands of people have fled northern Gaza to nearby Gaza City in the latest wave of displacement within the besieged area.
A spokesman for Gaza’s civil defense told NBC News that Israeli strikes had killed 25 people on Saturday, with “dozens” still trapped under the rubble. It accused the IDF of preventing medical and rescue teams from working in northern Gaza over the past two and a half weeks.
NBC News has contacted the IDF for comment on the accusation.
Norwegian Refugee Council Secretary General Jan Egeland, who visited Gaza last week, said the population in the north was being pushed “beyond the breaking point.”
“The utter destruction I witnessed this week in Gaza City and other urban areas in northern and central Gaza is worse than I could have imagined,” he said in a statement.
The blistering offensive in northern Gaza has raised fears among Palestinians that Israel is implementing a surrender-or-starve plan proposed by Giora Eiland, a retired major general and former head of Israel’s National Security Council. that laid out a radical strategy to enforce the acts of terror. evacuate all residents from northern Gaza, or label them as fighters.
The IDF has denied implementing what has become known as “the General Plan,” but 27 members of Israel’s parliament and ministers, some from Netanyahu’s party, publicly support it.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
