Gaza faces “famine” and ceasefire remains elusive

A senior Hamas official appeared to raise the stakes for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, saying the militant group was ready to continue fighting and calling on Palestinians to defy Israeli restrictions and march to the Strip’s mosque of Gaza. pray. at the beginning of Ramadan.

In a televised speech, Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh said the group was open indirect negotiationsThe same goes for Israel, but that “any flexibility we demonstrate in the negotiation process is a commitment to protect the blood of our people, accompanied by the will to defend them.”

He called on Palestinians in Jerusalem and the Israeli-occupied West Bank to do so march towards al-Aqsa mosque when the Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins around March 10.

This creates the prospect of clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces around the mosque, one of Islam’s holiest sites and a long-standing flash point in relations with Israel.

Israel did it limited access to the al-Aqsa Mosque for West Bank Palestinians and has severely restricted movement within the West Bank since the start of the war in Gaza.

Matthew Miller, a State Department spokesman, declined on Wednesday to comment on Haniyeh’s call for a march on the mosque, which is part of a 10-hectare site also sacred to Jews, who call it the Temple Mount.

“I would just like to say that, regarding Al Aqsa, we continue to urge Israel to facilitate access to the Temple Mount for peaceful worshipers during Ramadan, in line with past practice, and this will continue to be our position,” Miller said. .

President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi of Egypt, which helps mediate indirect talks between Israel and Hamas, expressed hope for a breakthrough and said that “God willing, we will reach a ceasefire agreement in the next few days.” bring “real relief“to the people of Gaza.

His comments echoed the president’s prediction Joe Biden earlier this week that a deal to stop the war and free the remaining hostages in Gaza could come as early as Monday.

In a press conference on Wednesday, the Israeli Defense Minister, Yoav Galantehe said he was reluctant to comment on Biden’s predictions.

“I really hope he’s right,” Gallant said.

He spoke as Israel faces growing international pressure to halt its devastating military offensive and growing domestic pressure to secure the release of hostages captured by Hamas and its allies during the October 7 attack on Israel, which killed at least 1,200 people, according to Israel. officials.

Without a decisive breakthrough, the death toll from the Israeli military campaign in Gaza is approaching 30,000, according to health officials in the territory, civilians and aid groups have described food shortages so severe that people have turned to leaves, bird food and other types of animal feed. for sustenance.

“Our lives have become very miserable,” said Aseel al-Louh, 23, a university student in Deir al Balah, central Gaza, who said she has lost 11 kilograms since the war began.

He said he ate once a day, usually bread, hummus or canned beans.

World Food Program nutrition bars, he said, were sold on the black market six times the pre-war price of similar products.

Her little sisters and brothers are also losing weight, she said in a Facebook message, adding that “everyone here” is doing it.

In Israel, dozens of relatives of the hostages have begun a four-day march from the Gaza border area towards Jerusalem, aiming to increase pressure on Israeli leaders to reach a deal to free the prisoners.

Starting from Re’im, the site of the music festival where hundreds of people were killed and dozens taken hostage, protesters had planned to walk about 21 kilometers a day and reach Jerusalem on Saturday.

Dekel Lifshitz, whose grandmother, Yocheved, was freed from captivity in October but whose grandfather, Oded, remains hostage, said he was marching to encourage the Israeli government to “take control correct decisions, even if they are difficult.” “

He said he wanted the hostages still in Gaza to know that “we are doing everything we can to bring everyone home as soon as possible,” adding:

“Wait a little longer and you will be with us.”

In Gaza, humanitarian groups and Palestinians have said that food shortages are particularly severe in the northern and central areas, where United Nations and aid agencies said they had difficulty delivering even small quantities of supplies during the Israeli military campaign.

Search for food

Aseel Ayman, who took refuge in northern Gaza, said he woke his family and ran to a nearby roundabout after hearing people shouting that help was on the way.

While around 500 people had gathered beforehand, his family waited for two hours, while some slept on the floor. But the help never arrived.

He had heard that food supplies had reached another part of northern Gaza, near a coastal road known as Al-Rasheed Street, but he said the presence of Israeli troops made it too dangerous to go there.

He had heard that food supplies had reached another part of northern Gaza, near a coastal road known as Al-Rasheed Street, but he said the presence of Israeli troops made it too dangerous to go there.

“There was an intense fear of going to Al-Rasheed Street to look for flour, because it was either the bag of flour or your life,” Ayman said. He said his family often has nothing to eat other than a green leaf called khubeiza, the Arabic word for the common mallow plant. Canned mushrooms and rice were unaffordable, he said.

Ramesh Rajasingham, a U.N. humanitarian official, told the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday that at least a quarter of Gaza’s residents are “one step away from famine” and that one in six children under 2 in northern Gaza suffers from famine. acute malnutrition.

His comments came on the same day that Gaza’s Health Ministry said two children admitted to Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza had died from what it described as dehydration and malnutrition.

The ministry did not provide further details.

Fighting, war damage and Israeli restrictions on the entry of essential goods into Gaza have decimated the territory’s ability to feed itself through agriculture, livestock and fishing, Rajasingham said.

Farmers have had to abandon their crops to escape fighting or because there is not enough water to sustain them; livestock died or perished due to lack of food and water;

Fishing, once an important source of food and income for Gaza residents, is now impossible due to Israeli security restrictions, he said.

His comments echoed a new World Bank report that found Gaza’s total economic output fell by more than 80% in the final quarter of 2023, calling it “one of the largest economic crises in recorded history recent”.

Between 80% and 96% of Gaza’s agricultural infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed and around 80% of Gaza residents have lost their jobs, the report says, adding that “all Gaza residents will live in poverty” in the short term.

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