 "Six more die of starvation in Gaza as UN fuel trucks arrive, says Israel")
Six more people died of malnutrition and starvation in Gaza in the last 24 hours, the health ministry reported on Sunday, as Israel announced it permitted fuel to be sent to the enclave, which is in the grip of a humanitarian disaster after almost two years of conflict.
The fresh fatalities bring the total number of people killed by what international humanitarian organisations believe to be an emerging famine to 175, including 93 children, since the war began, according to the ministry.
Egypt’s state-run Al Qahera News TV said that two trucks carrying 107 tonnes of diesel were about to enter Gaza, months after Israel severely limited aid access to the territory before relaxing it somewhat as starvation began to spread.
COGAT, the Israeli military organisation that handles relief, announced later in the day that four tankers of UN fuel had arrived to assist hospitals, bakeries, public kitchens, and other essential amenities.
There was no immediate indication that the two diesel fuel trucks had reached Gaza via Egypt.
According to Gaza’s health ministry, fuel shortages have significantly hampered hospital services, requiring physicians to treat only the most seriously ill or injured patients.
Fuel shipments have been scarce since March, when Israel stopped the flow of aid into the enclave in order to put pressure on Hamas terrorists to release the remaining hostages kidnapped during their October 2023 attack on Israel.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsIsrael blames Hamas for the suffering in Gaza but, in response to a rising international uproar, it announced steps last week to let more aid reach the population, including pausing fighting for part of the day in some areas, approving air drops and announcing protected routes for aid convoys.
UN agencies say airdrops are insufficient and that Israel must let in far more aid by land and open up access to the territory to prevent starvation among its 2.2 million people, most of whom are displaced amidst vast swathes of rubble.
COGAT said that during the past week over 23,000 tons of humanitarian aid in 1,200 trucks had entered Gaza but that hundreds of the trucks had yet to be driven to aid distribution hubs by UN and other international organisations.
Meanwhile, Belgium’s air force dropped the first in a series of its aid packages into Gaza on Sunday in a joint operation with Jordan, the Belgian defence ministry said.
France on Friday started to air-drop 40 tons of humanitarian aid.
LOOTED AID TRUCKS
The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said on Sunday that nearly 1,600 aid trucks had arrived since Israel eased restrictions late in July. However, witnesses and Hamas sources said many of those trucks have been looted by desperate displaced people and armed gangs.
More than 700 trucks of fuel entered the Gaza Strip in January and February during a ceasefire before Israel broke it in March in a dispute over terms for extending it and resumed its major offensive.
Palestinian local health authorities said at least 40 people had been killed by Israeli gunfire and airstrikes across the coastal enclave on Sunday. Deaths included persons trying to make their way to aid distribution points in southern and central areas of Gaza, Palestinian medics said.
Among those killed was a staff member of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, which said an Israeli strike at their headquarters in Khan Younis in southern Gaza ignited a fire on the first floor of the building.
The Gaza war began when Hamas killed more than 1,200 people and took 251 hostage in a cross-border attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, according to Israeli figures. Israel’s air and ground war in densely populated Gaza has since killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to enclave health officials.
According to Israeli officials, 50 hostages now remain in Gaza, only 20 of whom are believed to be alive.
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