All members of the United Nations Security Council – except the United States – have said the famine in Gaza was a “manmade crisis”.
In a joint statement, the 14 council members warned the use of starvation as a weapon of war is banned under international humanitarian law.
They called for an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire, the release of all hostages held by Hamas and other groups, a substantive surge of aid throughout Gaza, and for Israel to immediately and unconditionally lift all restrictions on aid delivery.
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Gaza City and surrounding areas are officially suffering from famine and it will likely spread, a global hunger monitor determined last week.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) system said 514,000 people, nearly a quarter of Palestinians in Gaza, are experiencing famine. It warned the figure is due to rise to 641,000 by the end of September.
Israel asked the monitor to retract its assessment on Wednesday, dismissing the findings as false and biased.
It said the IPC had based its survey on partial data largely provided by Hamas, which did not take into account a recent influx of food.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump held a policy meeting on the war with former British prime minister Tony Blair and his ex-Middle East envoy Jared Kushner.
The trio and top White House officials discussed all aspects of Gaza, including escalating food aid deliveries, the hostage crisis, post-war plans and more, a senior administration official told Reuters.
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It came after an Israel Defence Forces spokesperson said the evacuation of Gaza City is inevitable.
The IDF’s Arabic spokesman Avichay Adraee said: “Evacuating Gaza City is inevitable, and therefore, every family that relocates to the south will receive the most abundant humanitarian aid that is currently being worked on.”
Aid groups have warned an expanded Israeli military offensive could deepen the humanitarian crisis facing the besieged enclave.
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There was also increasing outrage over the double Israeli strike on a hospital in southern Gaza, which killed journalists, emergency responders and others, as the number killed rose to 22 after two more people died.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, abducting 251 people and killing around 1,200, mostly civilians, on 7 October 2023.
Israel’s offensive has killed nearly 63,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, which does not differentiate between combatants and civilians in its count but says around half of those killed were women and children.
