By Mohammed Majed
GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - The Gaza Strip is facing famine because of the shortage of humanitarian aid that is allowed into the enclave and Israel's closure of border crossings, the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, said Wednesday.
“Our Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip are facing an escalation in the brutal starvation war, worsening humanitarian catastrophe, and signs of famine, especially in the Gaza City and the north governorates,” the group said in a statement.
It attributed the famine to “the closure of crossings by the (Israeli) occupation, the limited number of aid trucks allowed to enter, and the oppressive siege imposed on the Gaza Strip, especially after the occupation's seizure of the Rafah crossing and its closure to the movement of individuals and aid.”
Israel’s “criminal use of starvation as a weapon during this fascist aggression is a war crime and a confirmation of its continuation of the genocide against our Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.”
The group urged Arab and Islamic countries, along with the international community, to make efforts and pressure Israel to stop the onslaught in the besieged enclave and open the crossings to relieve Gazans.
The UN relief chief said earlier that “in Gaza, half of the population – more than one million people – is expected to face death and starvation by the middle of July.”
Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.
More than 37,200 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and more than 84,900 others injured, according to local health authorities.
Eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.
Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.
*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala