Israel-Gaza war: Half of Gaza's population is starving, warns UN
Source: BBC
A senior UN aid official has warned that half of Gaza's population is starving, as fighting there continues.
Carl Skau, deputy director of the UN World Food Programme, said only a fraction of supplies needed have been able to enter the Strip - and nine out of 10 people cannot eat everyday.
...
Israel says it must continue air strikes on Gaza to eliminate Hamas and bring Israeli hostages home.
Israel Defence Forces spokesman Lt Col Richard Hecht told the BBC on Saturday that "any death and pain to a civilian is painful, but we don't have an alternative".
Read more: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-67670679
The deaths will accelerate as this goes on - the number of civilians killed to kill a Hamas combatant will increase.
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msongs
(73,752 posts)
AloeVera
(4,263 posts)
lapucelle
(21,061 posts)no "kind of" about it.
Lonestarblue
(13,477 posts)Netanyahu gave approval for Qatar to keep sending money to Hamas because he needed their threat to keep getting elected. This Times article lays out the payments made to Hamas over many years.
Instead of murdering many thousands of innocent Palestinians, Netanyahu has other options, like cutting off the money supply. He prefers the killing.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/10/world/middleeast/israel-qatar-money-prop-up-hamas.html?unlocked_article_code=1.E00.fhtD.kTfY_52mNIGN&smid=url-share
lapucelle
(21,061 posts)Similarly, it was Hamas that chose to spend the "suitcases full of cash" on weaponry and military infrastructure, rather than on improving life for the people of Gaza.
If conditions in Gaza on October 6 were akin to that of an "open air prison", then the fault lies with the Hamas-run government.
AloeVera
(4,263 posts)Strangling of the economy and semi-starvation of a caged people for 16 years. No exports, controlled imports.
Facts, you know. I'm not going to list them all out. I'm sure you know it and yet you still make this statement. Smh.
lapucelle
(21,061 posts)
AloeVera
(4,263 posts)And here I've been blaming Israel for 16 years.
EX500rider
(12,581 posts)You do know that Gaza had typical grocery stores with no lack of product?
?h=f7822858&itok=BiqVUJB_
AloeVera
(4,263 posts)Compare the picture in this article with yours.
https://www.gulf-times.com/article/671738/region/nothing-to-sell-empty-shelves-in-southern-gaza-as-population-swells
Nearly 2 million people crammed in where only a million were before, exceeding capacity of existing grocery stores that are nor being restockedm And how would they pay, I wonder, even if there was anything left, after 2 months with no income? And are ATM's working? And and and....
Come on.
Bayard
(29,679 posts)EX500rider
(12,581 posts)But I was responding to a post that they were semi-starved for the last 16 years
AloeVera
(4,263 posts)Unemployment stood at a stagggering 45%. For the even luckier ten to twenty thousand who had a work permit to work in Israel, the average wage in Israel is $83.
The availability of goods in stores is not a good measure of how much Gazans eat.
https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-investment-climate-statements/west-bank-and-gaza/#:~:text=The%20average%20daily%20wage%20in,21.3%20percent%20of%20all%20jobs.
(I misunderstood your point. in your earlier post).
EX500rider
(12,581 posts)Not Israel's fault Hamas puts all the aid money into tunnels & rockets & offshore banks as opposed to jobs & benefits.
According to figures compiled by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, aid to Palestinians amounted to more than $40 billion between 1994 and 2020.
AloeVera
(4,263 posts)I'm shocked that the theft of $40 billion in aid was not noticed by donor countries.or aid agencies! Israel too fell down on the job as they made sure to have tight control over aid money to ensure none goes to Hamas.
Who let this happen??
/s
As for jobs in Gaza, you might know that exports have been banned under the blockade, with some minor loosening in recent years. Hence most jobs are in the public sector, so technically Hamas is the main employer of Gazans. Looks to me like some of that aid money got through to the people.
Of course the $40B is dwarfed by the amount in mostly military aid to Israel.
https://usafacts.org/articles/how-much-military-aid-does-the-us-give-to-israel/
Money for food and people vs money for military toys, and look who loses out. Smh
In making the comparison to poor Africans, it seems that you think $13 is too much for them. I don't know what to say to that.
EX500rider
(12,581 posts)Did I say that or are you pretending to be psychic?
I imagine they could export goods thru the Egyptian border if they had a lot to export.
Israel does not control that border so it's not really a blockade.
prodigitalson
(3,193 posts)as far as I know
EX500rider
(12,581 posts)Which is where I got it and tons of pictures will come up with grocery stores full of food there was no semi starvation for 16 years as said above
prodigitalson
(3,193 posts)ever
so, of course
EX500rider
(12,581 posts)Because that is what I was responding to
Palestinian shoppers browse in a supermarket at a shopping center in Gaza City
https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2014/09/boycott-campaign-israeli-products-gaza.html#ixzz8LiEpxgVl
?h=f7822858&itok=BiqVUJB_
2naSalit
(102,780 posts)That before?
Igel
(37,535 posts)They could just stop and open the borders.
And wait preparing for the next round. This will not lead to a 2-state solution or any solution.
Gaza also has an alternative. They could turn on Hamas and force them out, and turn over the hostages. Over time, with trust built, this could lead to a two-state solution.
Odd that only one solution is ever proffered--one that guarantees short term benefit for long term misery.
NoRethugFriends
(3,750 posts)Release the hostages and surrender themselves and their arms.
But.... that would require them to care about the people in Gaza.
Ahh, but then they wouldn't be able to carry out their agenda in their manifesto, which is eliminating all Jews.
enid602
(9,684 posts)Wash, rinse and repeat.
CincyDem
(7,392 posts)So yeah…they wash rinse and repeat their terrorism.
So there you have it. They’ll just have to starve. It does, however seem that the blockade goes back to 2007. Such generosity,
lapucelle
(21,061 posts)CincyDem
(7,392 posts)Could have bought a lot of food with that money but Gaza leadership (aka Hamas) had a different agenda.
So you're right...there you have it.
If you google aid to Gaza, all sources give you the same stats. They list the countries that provide aid to Gaza: the US (via UNRWA), US (direct to Gaza), EEC, Emirates, Egypt, Qatar etc. at the end of the list, they mention that Israel has given some work permits. No further comment.
On a further note it is heartwarming that Israeli hospitals have been so quick to step up and treat all the Palestinians so hideously deformed by constant and vicious Israeli bombing.
TexasDem69
(2,317 posts)That seems like a good start. No reasonable person can disagree.
Butterflylady
(4,584 posts)And I am a very reasonable person.
EX500rider
(12,581 posts)
Skittles
(171,704 posts)they did this, they did that, it never, ever fucking ends
dembotoz
(16,922 posts)lapucelle
(21,061 posts)Did BBC attempt to interview any of the Hamas Billionaire Boys Club living the high life in Qatar?
Did anyone at the BBC contact any of the journalists in Gaza? Maybe the journalists can ask the Hamas Ministry of Health why Hamas is stealing all the humanitarian aid shipments of food.
AloeVera
(4,263 posts)There are no aid shipments to steal. Aid trucks won't go in due to high risk of being blown to bits like the Gazans.
If Hamas broke the ceasefire they did Israel a favour as the extremists in the Israeli cabinet were chomping at the bit to re-start the war. I wonder if they stalled negotiations on release of hostages to piss off Hamas and goad them into firing those rockets?
lapucelle
(21,061 posts)bloodbath of savage butchery, and then once again breaking another ceasefire that President Biden and SOS Blinken had worked hard to negotiate.
No matter how hard revisionists on twitter work to flog a narrative, this is all on Hamas.
AloeVera
(4,263 posts)Have you considered looking at it from the Palestinians' viewpoint?
A ceasefire is between armed forces, right? In this case the asymmetry between them is astronomical but leaving that aside, is it not implicit that a ceasefire would include not killing civilians?
You see where I'm going. If you accept that assumption, then Israel broke the ceasefire 67 times in the Gaza Strip and 288 times in the West Bank in the one year period leading up to Oct 7th.
Last week's ceasefire was never going to hold because Israel had already declared it would continue the war. Then it provoked Hamas by not releasing Palestinian prisoners at the agreed upon 3:1 ratio and making new demands on the release of hostages.
Sorry. Your guys are to blame too.
lapucelle
(21,061 posts)People are free to make whatever assumptions they choose. Expecting others to accept them is another thing entirely.
AloeVera
(4,263 posts)I guess you're not interested in the Palestinian viewpoint.
What's with the ubiquitous face palm? It's kind of condescending in direct debate. Have a good night or day, wherever you may be.
lapucelle
(21,061 posts)some might find it presumptuous and most folks generally prefer to speak for themselves alone, rather than assume that a personal opinion or perspective represents the thinking of large swathes of people.
As for wishing me a "good day or night, wherever may be", rest assured that 11:42 PM is night time in NY.
Concerning the facepalm, some people prefer classic smilie version:
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Lonestarblue
(13,477 posts)of water per day and one cup of rice. I will never understand how people here and indeed in the US government can support Netanyahu’s regime when he is deliberately starving Palestinians who had nothing to do with the Hamas attack.
SYGDeb
(84 posts)It is the ultimate hypocrisy. Most of the people living in Gaza were too young to have voted for Hamas. Why punish the innocent? I am horrified by this. Collective Punishment.
0rganism
(25,642 posts)A million people. Starving. In ruin and rubble. IMHO, this is not a good look for humanity and casts significant doubt on our odds for survival as a nominally-civilized species in the next two centuries.
Blame whomever you like, place responsibility in the way that suits your take on events past and present. People worldwide are already dismayed by what little they've seen so far. In a month or so, unless something important changes real soon, this situation is going to appear far far worse to anyone who looks. There will be ongoing global consequences.
A million people. Dead.
AloeVera
(4,263 posts)It's no longer about Hamas or who did this or that, this is a crisis of humanity. That we are expected to value the future hoped-for security of one nation/people over the current and imminent death of masses of another people is so shocking and devastating to many of us. It really does not bode well for how we handle the coming crises in the future.
But for now, all eyes on Gaza and all efforts to stop the madness before it's too late.
jimfields33
(19,382 posts)For awhile, they had many trucks go through. Did they distribute that or did Hamas take it as they’ve been known to do?
AloeVera
(4,263 posts)Let's assume Hamas stole aid from right under the noses of Israeli surveillance and the UN aid workers distributing food and were somehow allowed to do so.
Since the start of the war, Gaza is short about 27,000 aid trucks. That's a lot of people deprived of food and essentials.
Let's not forget that Israel would not agree to a safe passage for the first 2-3 weeks of the war and has allowed very little since then. Even during the truce, it was a trickle.
Gaza was entirely dependent on international before the war, largely due to the strangling of its economy by the blockade. It needed close to 500 trucks a DAY. Even at that, people had a very modest diet to put it mildly.
With the bombing now of the Rafah area, doubt any trucks are entering.
People are literally starving while billions in military hardware are being dropped on their heads to kill them. There is something very wrong here.
AloeVera
(4,263 posts)Blame Hamas.
If you are up on the news, you would know that aid has been delivered to people. The problem is that it is so little, barely a trickle of what was given before the war, that people are now on the verge of starvation.
You can't blame Hamas for everything. This is a deliberate decision by Israel.
Yes. This is an actual madness.
Big Blue Marble
(5,691 posts)is how so many do not understand if we allow these people to be so dehumanized and
starved to the point of death, why this couldn't happen to any of us. Our very own leadership is
partitipatng in this horror, even as we claim we value the equal rights of all humans and teach
that to others.
If we are not living up to these values, who will? Who will protect our rights to live and be free.
This is not just about a small group of people in the Middle East, this is about us all.
SYGDeb
(84 posts)This is a mirror being held up to us. And what is staring back at us is terrible.
EX500rider
(12,581 posts)Combining the rail bombing, blockade and the failure of the 1945 rice crop promised to threaten death by starvation to a large swath of the Japanese population.
Tomconroy
(7,611 posts)One million people are not going to die of starvation.
Lack of hydration is another matter, but there is no mention of that.
Big Blue Marble
(5,691 posts)and whether it is mentioned or not, most Gazans are not getting adequate clean water either.
It does not take long for a dehydrated starving child with watery diarrhea to die.
0rganism
(25,642 posts)The Gaza strip already had a reputation as "the world's largest open-air prison". For the sake of disease prevention and dangerous scavenger reduction, now Gaza will have to become the world's largest open-air crematorium.
This too will not look good.
IronLionZion
(51,267 posts)not a lot of options there for civilians who would like to live. Who is being punished? Because it probably isn't Hamas.
RandySF
(84,260 posts)Would it be? I wonder?
SYGDeb
(84 posts)"But we don't have an alternative?"
You don't? You have no alternative? Shameful answer.
twodogsbarking
(18,774 posts)RockRaven
(19,365 posts)decisions made by people who know exactly what they are causing.
claudette
(5,455 posts)gives silent ignoring.
maxsolomon
(38,711 posts)so another Ceasefire could be brokered.
more than anything, Gaza needs clean water.
pfitz59
(12,701 posts)Looking at the availability of emergency rations in Europe. About half of the emergency food supplies were SPAM and other pork products. How would that fly in Gaza? Also, much of the emergency food was dehydrated or heavily salted. Pretty much worthless without potable water and fuel to heat it. Neither of which the Gazans have. I doubt perishable items could get into Gaza without spoiling. What re they to do?
Aussie105
(7,920 posts)Loaded with bottled water and food supplies to do an aerial drop over Gaza?
Worked in 1948 . . .
Google “Berlin Airlift,” that lasted for more than a year and carried more than 2.3 million tons of cargo into West Berlin.
If the US wanted to get seriously humanitarian, it would happen.
As it is though . . . no chance!
The US is firmly on the side of Israel, and not the general Palestinian population that is suffering at the moment.
As for people on DU: Keep playing the blame game, folks!
(For the record, I'm not taking sides. Too much evil on both sides.)