Israel accused of using ‘food as a weapon of war’ as it is condemned for aid blockade on Gaza
Welcome to our live coverage of the latest developments in the Middle East as Israel is widely condemned for blocking the entry of all humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said yesterday that it was imposing a blockade on Gaza because Hamas would not accept a plan which it claimed had been put forward by the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff, to extend phase one of the ceasefire and continue to release hostages, and postpone phase two, which should, in theory, see Israel completely withdraw its forces from Gaza, in effect ending the war.
“With the end of phase one of the hostage deal, and in light of Hamas’s refusal to accept the Witkoff outline for continuing talks – to which Israel agreed – prime minister Netanyahu has decided that, as of this morning, all entry of goods and supplies into the Gaza Strip will cease. Israel will not allow a ceasefire without the release of our hostages,” it said in a statement. “If Hamas continues its refusal, there will be further consequences.”
After the announcement, Netanyahu’s spokesperson, Omer Dostri, said: “No trucks entered Gaza this morning, nor will they at this stage.”
Egypt and Qatar were among the Arab states that said Israel’s decision violated the ceasefire deal. The Egyptian foreign ministry accused Israel of using starvation as “a weapon against the Palestinian people”. Similarly, Qatar’s foreign ministry said: “Qatar strongly condemns the decision of the Israeli occupation government to stop bringing humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, and considers it a blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement, (and) international humanitarian law”, adding its “rejection of the use of food as a weapon of war”.
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, reacted by demanding that “humanitarian aid flow back into Gaza immediately” with the organisation’s humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher describing the move as “alarming”.
A spokesperson for Palestinian militant group Hamas said Israel’s blockade was “cheap blackmail” and a “coup” against the internationally mediated ceasefire agreement.
Key events
Kathleen Spencer Chapman, the director of influencing and external affairs at Plan International UK, has responded to Israel announcing a blockade on aid to Gaza.
In a statement, Chapman said:
We are horrified by reports that aid is once again being stopped from getting into Gaza. Gaza remains in the grip of a catastrophic hunger crisis, with children in dire need of food, water and shelter. Without the influx of humanitarian aid promised by the ceasefire agreement, thousands more could die from hunger and related diseases alone.
After over 15 months of indescribable trauma, Palestinians in Gaza finally had a faint glimmer of hope. World leaders must do all they can to broker an immediate, permanent solution and ensure that critically needed humanitarian aid can safely get into all parts of Gaza. Anything less is unconscionable.
Her comments follow similar outcry from other charities such as Oxfam and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies who are calling for unhindered access for aid into all parts of the Gaza Strip to meet the needs of Palestinians who have been struggling to survive for 16 months of war.
Analysis: Israeli block on aid raises health fears for Gaza’s undernourished population
Israel’s war on Gaza has reduced much of the territory to rubble and led to dire living conditions for almost all of its residents. Despite an increase in aid flowing into the strip since the ceasefire agreement came into effect in mid January, the humanitarian needs of Palestinian people across the strip remain huge.
Julian Borger, the Guardian’s senior international correspondent, has had a look at how Israel’s decision to stop the entry of all humanitarian aid into Gaza will affect relief efforts and the undernourished population’s access to food in particular. Here is an extract of his analysis piece:
Aid agencies say the population of Gaza remains highly vulnerable and that the blockade of humanitarian supplies to a civilian population is unacceptable in any circumstances …
Israel has consistently denied allegations by aid organisations during the 15-month military campaign in Gaza that it was using food as a weapon of war, insisting that blockages in supplies were a result of other factors. Sunday’s announcement by Netanyahu’s office made no attempt to disguise the government’s actions or the goal behind them, which is to gain advantage at the negotiating table.
For the duration of the ceasefire, about 600 trucks a day have crossed into Gaza, carrying a total of 57,000 tons of food. This is a similar level to prewar aid deliveries, but aid agencies say that was for a population in a much better physical condition than the undernourished inhabitants now, and that also had the capacity to produce some of its own food.
The situation in Gaza now is far more precarious. Nearly 70% of the buildings across the coastal strip have been destroyed or damaged. In those circumstances, Oxfam called the aid that reached Gaza during the six-week ceasefire “a drop in the ocean”.
Israeli police say they are looking for potential accomplices in the Haifa stabbing attack, according to reports. Israeli authorities said earlier that the assailant was killed.
“The incident has not concluded,” police spokesperson Ariyeh Doron was quoted as having said.
“Large amounts of police and security forces are operating in the area … After completing the search, we will declare the end of the incident.”
Elderly man killed in knife attack in Israeli city of Haifa
A 70-year-old man was killed and others injured in a knife attack in the northern Israeli city of Haifa on Monday morning, medics say.
“Paramedics and EMTs have pronounced the death of a man around 70 years old and are providing medical treatment to and evacuating four injured individuals”, Israel’s Magen David Adom (MDA) emergency service said, after the police reported the suspect was killed.
Three people, a man and woman in their 30s and a 15-year-old boy, are in a critical condition, and a 70-year-old woman has “moderate” injuries after the attack at a busy bus station in Haifa, the MDA said.
Israel accused of using ‘food as a weapon of war’ as it is condemned for aid blockade on Gaza
Welcome to our live coverage of the latest developments in the Middle East as Israel is widely condemned for blocking the entry of all humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said yesterday that it was imposing a blockade on Gaza because Hamas would not accept a plan which it claimed had been put forward by the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff, to extend phase one of the ceasefire and continue to release hostages, and postpone phase two, which should, in theory, see Israel completely withdraw its forces from Gaza, in effect ending the war.
“With the end of phase one of the hostage deal, and in light of Hamas’s refusal to accept the Witkoff outline for continuing talks – to which Israel agreed – prime minister Netanyahu has decided that, as of this morning, all entry of goods and supplies into the Gaza Strip will cease. Israel will not allow a ceasefire without the release of our hostages,” it said in a statement. “If Hamas continues its refusal, there will be further consequences.”
After the announcement, Netanyahu’s spokesperson, Omer Dostri, said: “No trucks entered Gaza this morning, nor will they at this stage.”
Egypt and Qatar were among the Arab states that said Israel’s decision violated the ceasefire deal. The Egyptian foreign ministry accused Israel of using starvation as “a weapon against the Palestinian people”. Similarly, Qatar’s foreign ministry said: “Qatar strongly condemns the decision of the Israeli occupation government to stop bringing humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, and considers it a blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement, (and) international humanitarian law”, adding its “rejection of the use of food as a weapon of war”.
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, reacted by demanding that “humanitarian aid flow back into Gaza immediately” with the organisation’s humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher describing the move as “alarming”.
A spokesperson for Palestinian militant group Hamas said Israel’s blockade was “cheap blackmail” and a “coup” against the internationally mediated ceasefire agreement.
