Gaza grapples with catastrophic hunger amid Israeli attacks: UN refugee agency

By Mohammad Sio

ISTANBUL (AA) – The Gaza Strip is grappling with catastrophic hunger amid ongoing Israeli attacks, the UN Palestinian refugee agency said Thursday.

'"Every day is a struggle for survival, finding food and finding water,” Thomas White, director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) in Gaza, said in a statement.

White warned that “40% of the population are now at risk of famine.”

“The reality is, we need more aid. The only remaining hope is a humanitarian cease-fire,” he added.

Israel has launched relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip in retaliation for a cross-border attack by Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7.

At least 21,110 Palestinians have since been killed and 55,243 others injured, according to local health authorities, while nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli onslaught has left Gaza in ruins, with 60% of the enclave's infrastructure damaged or destroyed and nearly 2 million people displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicines.