Famine Has Begun in Northern Gaza, U.S. Official Says

[WhiskeyGrinder]

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/04/11/world/israel-gaza-war-news-hamas

Samantha Power, the director of the U.S. Agency for International Development, has said that a famine is underway in northern Gaza, which has been devastated by six months of Israeli military operations and is the part of the territory most cut off from aid.

Ms. Power is the first senior American official to say publicly that famine has begun in the Gaza Strip, where aid agencies and global experts have warned for months that nearly all 2.2 million Palestinians would soon face extreme hunger.

Northern Gaza, which was the first part of the territory that Israeli forces invaded last October, has been heavily damaged by the war and is far from the two open border crossings in the south through which nearly all aid is arriving.

Aid agencies say that it has become all but impossible to deliver relief supplies to the north amid continuing attacks. UNICEF said on Wednesday that one of its vehicles waiting to enter northern Gaza had been “hit by live ammunition,” and that it had raised the matter with the Israeli authorities. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to questions about the report.

[Voltaire2]

1. An occupying authority that causes a famine

is committing an act of genocide.

[jimfields33]

53. Yeah. I don't understand why Hamas refuses to feed its people they govern.

It’s weird.

[PSPS]

2. But it's all good as long as "Bibi" can stay out of prison.

[David__77]

3. The US should not support Israel's war.

[Basic LA]

4. Children's Emergency Fund trucks fired on.

That's UNICEF, of course. Can't get any more brazen than that. No aid to STARVING CHILDREN & families permitted. Hunger and thirst are part of the...I was going to say revenge plot...but it might have passed blood-vengeance by now. Now it's dispassionate, well-engineered extermination in a bombed-out death camp. All on Uncle Sam's generous dime, as we continue to lavish Israel with billions of US tax dollars for its "war," also shipment after shipment of hospital-leveling bombs and all other weaponry, plus our unconditional international protection.

And aside from a few ineffectual squeaks of concern on the home front, it's still Netanyahu & Uncle Sam, working hand in hand.

So next we wait to watch Rafah refugee camps scraped clean of life, helpless or unwilling to intervene.

Let's wring our hands as children are systematically starved to death. After all, we're supporting it.

[maxsolomon]

6. the UNICEF vehicles were not specifically targeted by the IDF

“We were waiting there when gunfire broke out." Ingram said. "The gunfire came from the direction of the checkpoint toward civilians who then ran away from the checkpoint. And the gunfire hit us."

[BannonsLiver]

7. Ah why let factual details get in the way of a good performative rant.

[Butterflylady]

16. Of course

[maxsolomon]

18. Based on the snipped paragraph with the Ingram quote, what leads you to believe the IDF deliberately attacked

the convoy, which was idling in a waiting area?

do you have additional reporting or other information that indicates malice?

[Basic LA]

26. That's the loophole?

The UNICEF aid trucks were fired on accidentally with IDF bullets intended for the backs of fleeing civilians?
Man, what a technicality, even if true. It's almost worse.
But I get it, this divide in opinion here is unbridgeable. The same two factions go at it every day.
Genocide is wrong vs Justified response. We get nowhere.

[maxsolomon]

30. Yes, that's the loophole.

Until more is known about who fired the rounds and why, malicious intent towards UNICEF shouldn't be ascribed to the troops at the checkpoint.

Sure, the IDF will probably never explain it, but the UNICEF spokeperson doesn't believe it was deliberate, and she was there.

[Basic LA]

50. But firing on fleeing unarmed civilians WAS deliberate?

Oops, didn't mean to hit your trucks, we were just busy killing innocent civilians and you got in the way.
Oh, fine then. Feel free to shoot UNICEF's way anytime.

[maxsolomon]

59. Again, you assume the IDF was firing at innocent fleeing civilians.

Neither of us know who was firing at what.

[Basic LA]

60. The report that started this discussion

said the UNICEF trucks were hit by "Live Ammunition."
Then someone above said no, the shots from the soldiers at the gate were aimed at fleeing civilians and only hit UNICEF by mistake.

Obfuscation and confusion are good ways to change the narrative. Not that YOU'RE doing that! But it happens. So who shot at UNICEF?

[maxsolomon]

61. The UNICEF Spokeperson who was in one of the vehicles said it.

Probably it was the IDF firing.

Both these things can be true:
1. the UNICEF trucks were hit by "Live Ammunition."
2. shots from the soldiers at the gate were aimed at fleeing civilians and only hit UNICEF by mistake.

I don't see the obfuscation or contradiction.

[Basic LA]

62. If those two reports are conclusive, you're right.

Was viewing it as one saying one thing, another something else, all a blur.

Still, though, shooting at fleeing CIVILIANS? And oops, we hit UNICEF. It's like two wrongs make two wrongs.

[BannonsLiver]

5. Well hell, Judging from some of the comments around here the famine started on Oct 8.

Last edited Thu Apr 11, 2024, 01:02 PM - Edit history (1)

[Sky Jewels]

21. You're making light of people starving?

Children and others are literally dying of hunger as a direct result of Israel's actions and you want to downplay it because it doesn't fit in with the agenda of: Israel Good/Gaza Bad. ... Got it.

[BannonsLiver]

24. No

I’m making light of the OTT cries of famine and genocide that started on DU before Israel fired its first shot in retaliation following Oct 7. The performative stuff. I hope that clears it up.

[Scrivener7]

46. Yep. Exactly.

[sarisataka]

8. Hamas should dig deep and find 40 hostages

to a cease fire can be put in place and allow aid in.

Report: Hamas doesn't have 40 living hostages for cease-fire deal

[BuddhaGirl]

10. Israel should do more

to get food aid into the region. Shame on them for perpetrating this!

[sarisataka]

13. Does Hamas have no agency in this?

Is all responsibility on Israel to come up with a cease fire that is acceptable?

[Voltaire2]

23. I agree, Hamas should withdraw immediately from all the Israeli territory they occupy.

[sarisataka]

25. Do we need to consider what the right hand possesses?

[Voltaire2]

28. Israel is holding thousands of palestinian hostages.

The exchange of prisoners and the withdrawal from Gaza is the path to peace.

[sarisataka]

34. Israel is asking for 40 in exchange for hundreds- but that's not good enough

Hamas would rather keep the status quo than let 40 Jews go.

Another path would be Israel can surrender and dissolve itself. Then there would be peace, maybe.

[Voltaire2]

42. Or they could withdraw from the occupied territories.

There would be a lot less trouble.

[sarisataka]

44. Releasing 40 hostages in exchange for a cease fire

and the release of hundreds of Palestinians is too much to ask.

Noted.

[Mossfern]

54. They (Palestinians) are not hostages

They're prisoners - some who have committed murder.

[DBoon]

51. So Hamas refusing to negotiate in good faith makes it OK to block food for civilians?

and the resulting starvation is a legitimate war tactic to force Hamas' hand?

[sarisataka]

55. Let's see, is that what i said...

*reads post* no, not at all.

I asked why Hamas is excused from any responsibility whereas Israel must accommodate every demand.

The offer is extremely favorable to Hamas, Hamas refuses therefore Israel is unreasonable.

[obamanut2012]

56. For some on DU, the answer is YES

It is not my answer.

[0rganism]

52. The less agency Hamas has, the better for everyone

Like Hamas can be trusted? You can trust them if you want, I wouldn't trust Hamas to run a citywide composting operation let alone govern a state or engage with international diplomacy.

So yes, it really does land on Israel to behave responsibly, as they have proven themselves capable of doing so in the past. Israel has a direct stake in being perceived by the rest of the world as a credible nation-state with nominally responsive democratic government, while Hamas has no such constraint.

Thus, it's up to Israel to be the responsible adult in the room. Expecting that from Hamas is like expecting a gerbil to sing opera -- they don't understand, they don't care, they're practically incapable of doing it, and the whole singing thing probably just annoys them anyway.

Israel would be wise to withdraw its military from Gaza and request UN peacekeeping oversight, at the very least to counter accusations of ethnic cleansing and annexation.

[sarisataka]

57. Like it or not, Hamas rules Gaza.

They are the government with ministries, envoys, the works.

That gerbil has shown it has a taste for rape and murder. Does Israel just have to accept that is the way it is.

I refuse to excuse Hamas by infantilizing them. They are adult human beings who know and understand what they are doing. They choose to do it because they want Israel and Jews gone from the face of the earth.

[0rganism]

58. "Rules" perhaps, but governing remains far beyond them

They are no government. Even if that description might have fit (loosely) 10 years ago, it no longer applies.

> I refuse to excuse Hamas by infantilizing them.
Who's talking about excusing them? Do you expect Hamas to negotiate honorably, as murderous and rapey as they are? Best leave them out of the process entirely unless you're on a quest for perpetual causus belli to justify annexation (which does seem to be the Netanyahu faction's current objective).

[Autumn]

31. So many buildings bombed the one Hamas had them in may have been pulverized.

[sarisataka]

36. So why won't they even give the names of the living?

And let Israel know who is dead. Maybe turn over bodies as a sign of good faith, that they want peace.

I think things are exactly the way Hamas wants them to be. As we saw this week, they rejoice in their martyrs.

[Autumn]

39. Do they even know where they were? They don't want peace. You can't oppress a people

if you aren't fanning the flames of hatred.

[sarisataka]

40. So Hamas cannot ask the names of the hostages they know where there are?

They do have more than 40 they have admitted. But Hamas would have to release males. That price is too steep to help their people.

[Autumn]

41. They could but they won't. I don't think any are alive. nt

[sarisataka]

45. That would mean Hamas is negotiating in bad faith

if they have no living hostages

[Autumn]

49. No, it means nothing. That's just my opinion that there may not be any alive. .

A lot of places were destroyed by all the bombings.

[Ping Tung]

9. Purposefully starving or interrupting food supplies to non-combatants is a war crime.

According to the ICC, ICRC, and the UN among others.

[BuddhaGirl]

11. +1

Sad to see such lack of compassion for the starving and dying innocents

[BannonsLiver]

14. And I'm sad to see the lack of well informed posters on this subject

Last edited Thu Apr 11, 2024, 02:18 PM - Edit history (1)

Upthread you said Israel perpetrated all of this. It was Hamas who perpetrated the attack, not Israel.

[BuddhaGirl]

15. Didn't say they perpetrated "all" of this

You must be confused.

Learn to read properly and not put words in someone else's mouth.

I have stated before in other posts that Hamas shares blame. But Israel preventing aid from reaching innocent victims?

Fuck that.

[BannonsLiver]

17. I read it just fine

It’s clear all of your contempt is reserved for Israel.

[BannonsLiver]

22. Lol no need to assume in this particular case.

It’s plain as day.

[uponit7771]

33. I believe The Chef not IDF

[BannonsLiver]

35. Okay? I couldn't possibly care less.

[uponit7771]

37. I care that an ally has less credibility than a food kitchen chef , so should we all no?

[H2O Man]

12. Recommended.

It has been going on for some time now.

[leftstreet]

20. DURec

[obamanut2012]

27. It is a feature and not a bug

[EX500rider]

29. Meanwhile: 18 million people face acute hunger in Sudan. Of these, nearly 5 million are in emergency levels of hunger

UNICEF says 700,000 children in Sudan face life-threatening malnutrition.
The U.N.'s World Food Program has warned that the war risks "triggering the world's largest hunger crisis."

Does not get the headlines for some reason or other...

[Autumn]

38. Maybe because our government is not providing weapons to the SAF and the RSF.

Instead we are the largest humanitarian donor to the Sudan crisis response. That is what we should be doing in Gaza. Withholding weapons and aid from Israel and helping the people of Gaza.

[EX500rider]

43. So it's Gaza is only more prevalent in the news due to that?

So if we supplied no weapons to the IDF is would drop out of the news? ok, lol

we are the largest humanitarian donor to the Sudan crisis response.

And who do you think is the largest donor of aid to Gaza?
The United States is by far the largest donor to the U.N.'s humanitarian efforts in Gaza, according to USAID.

[Autumn]

47. Well Israel is an "ally" of the US. When an alley is commiting war crimes people pay

attention. Don't go skating all over the place. You made a comment that 18 million people face acute hunger in Sudan and it doesn't get the headlines like the famine in Gaza does. I gave you my opinion as to why. We are not providing weapons to be used for that conflict.
Also not a lot of the aid we are providing is getting safely through to Gaza and now a famine is underway in northern Gaza, which has been devastated by six months of Israeli military operations and is the part of the territory most cut off from aid.

Something is seriously wrong with anyone who would be pissed about providing humanitarian aid to people who are starving.

[EX500rider]

48. Who is pissed about providing humanitarian aid?

I merely pointed out 2 million people nearing starving is somehow much bigger deal & news then 18 million people near starving and wondered why.

[uponit7771]

32. I believe The Chef when he says IDF is using food as weapon of war