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Israel has killed at least 20,000 people in Gaza and pushed at least a quarter of the besieged strip’s population into starvation, with no end in sight in its war with Hamas.
The official death toll, released by the Palestinian health ministry, is likely an undercount of the true figure, aid workers say, with many bodies buried in the rubble, but it already exceeds that of any of Israel’s subsequent conflicts with the Palestinians since the Jewish state was formed in 1948.
The UN Security Council will later on Friday vote on a stripped-down resolution that dropped a call for a cessation of hostilities in order to get the US, Israel’s military and political patron, to support a measure that will allow more humanitarian aid.
The vote comes as the UN warned that food supplies in Gaza had dwindled to the point of acute food insecurity after Israel tightly restricted the influx of international aid, citing a need to inspect every truck for weapons.
One in four of Gazan’s population of about 2.3mn are starving, the UN’s World Food Program said, and without an immediate surge in aid, the entire enclave would face famine within six months.
Israel has laid siege to the strip since Hamas’s October 7 attack, but has denied any food shortage, disputed the death count and said it had killed thousands of Hamas fighters, a number that cannot be independently verified.
The US has declined to allow a Security Council vote that would include any language demanding a ceasefire, UN officials said. The pared-down language will instead call for the creation of a “humanitarian and reconstruction co-ordinator” in order to get more aid into Gaza.
During last month’s seven-day pause in hostilities to allow for a hostage-for-prisoner swap, Israel agreed for as many 200 trucks of aid to enter Gaza per day. Hamas still holds about 130 hostages and is demanding an end to hostilities before it negotiates conditions for their release.
Since the swap, Israel has also reopened the Kerem Shalom crossing, which was designed after a 2014 war to allow the passage of at least double that number of trucks.
Yet, on average, no more than 72 trucks have entered the strip since the war began, after a cross-border Hamas raid that killed 1,200 people in Israel, according to government figures. Israel has said it does not restrict aid convoys, and has blamed logistical difficulties and supply shortages from aid agencies for any shortfall.
“There is no limit to the amount of food, water, medical supplies and shelter equipment that can enter Gaza,” the ministry of defence’s department for the Palestinian territories said on the social platform X.
Emily Foster is a globe-trotting journalist based in the UK. Her articles offer readers a global perspective on international events, exploring complex geopolitical issues and providing a nuanced view of the world’s most pressing challenges.
