Israel is starving Palestinians again in Gaza, with its new artillery killing hundreds, many of which are children.
For 17 months since the devastating war in the Gaza Strip, Israel has repeatedly used food and international humanitarian assistance as tools of collective pressure on Palestinians.
The civilians in the enclave have been exposed to extreme food shortages and hunger throughout the war. Dozens of children have died of starvation, and countless others have succumbed to wounds and preventable diseases during the worsening humanitarian disaster.
Israeli authorities continue to starve Palestinians in their besieged enclaves, home to 2.3 million people, after blocking entry to humanitarian assistance once again in early March. And on March 18, Israel unilaterally defeated the ceasefire that had been held since January, resuming attacks across Gaza, killing hundreds more Palestinians.
The combination of bombs and debilitating humanitarian situations has rapidly deteriorated for the people of Gaza, but has remained constant since the start of the war in October 2023. Here we take a closer look at how Israel used aid to punish Gaza.
October 2023
October 9: Israel announces a “total lockdown” in the Gaza Strip, stopping all food, water, medicine, fuel and electricity intrusions.
The then Minister of Defense, Yove Gallant, promised action against “human animals” and ordered a “full siege.”
Thirteen months later, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issues a warrant against Gallant and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on charges that include “war crimes of hunger as a way of war.”
October 21: An emergency truck enters Gaza via a land route from Egypt as Israeli forces continue with two weeks of deadly bombing.
The Israeli army will ultimately allow a very limited number of aid trucks to enter the enclave after international pressure.
November 2023
November 24th: A temporary ceasefire has been reached between Israel and Hamas, allowing for a slight increase in humanitarian aid entering Gaza.
The UN and international aid agencies report that the amount of aid entering Gaza is very insufficient to meet the needs of the population, most of which are children.
A temporary halt of the attack allows Gaza and Palestinian prisoners to exchange limited numbers of the prisoners held by Israel, but they do not promise to end the return of Palestinians who were driven out of their homes as a result of the battle.
Palestinian girl inspects damage at the location of Israeli strike at the Deier Elbara home in the central Gaza Strip on March 25, 2025 [Ramadan Abed/Reuters]
The Gaza ceasefire then ends a week after it began, with Israel’s ruthless Israel rebooting and killing more civilians, journalists, aid workers and doctors along with Hamas’ figure.
February 2024
February 29: Israel kills at least 112 Palestinians and more than 750 wounded when they fire fire on Palestinians waiting in the southwestern part of Gaza city in what is known as the “Flour Massacre.”
Israeli forces have carried out many similar attacks on life-saving aid fleets, with “terrorists” being targeted but without providing evidence.
The UN and other international organizations and aid workers have repeatedly reported that Israeli authorities are deliberately blocking many aid trucks that attempt to enter the enclave.
Israel attacks with blocked aid and miserable conditions created by Israel’s ground attacks and the destruction of the entire Gaza, and the convoys are attacked and plundered.
Also, far-right Israelis attack multiple times to attack the convoy or try to stop them from entering Gaza.
April 2024
April 1: Israel’s drone strike targets aid convoy with the World Central Kitchen (WCK) and kills six international aid workers and a Palestinian driver.
The WCK is forced to halt humanitarian activities, like many other international aid organizations that temporarily or permanently halt support for Palestinians.
An investigation by the Sanad Verification Agency in Al Jazeera found that three WCK vehicles were intentionally attacked, increasing the record death toll of hundreds of Palestinian aid workers killed since the start of Israel’s Gaza War.
October 2024
October 6: Israeli forces launch a massive siege in northern Gaza, designating the entire region as a combat zone and issue forced evacuation orders to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.
The north siege with Israeli attacks in other parts of Gaza will continue until the ceasefire with Hamas comes into effect on January 19, 2025.
Humanitarian entry into Gaza has been significantly restricted by Israel during the winter in the cold weather.
Ministers of the far-right Israeli government, among them Prime Minister Bezarel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gwil, preferring this over a ceasefire option, seeking a blockade of all humanitarian aid and a military occupation in Gaza.
Left Ben Gwil, leader of the far-right Jewish power party and leader of the far-right Zionist party, Smotrich, opposes all ceasefire efforts and says Israeli settlements should be built in Gaza [File: Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP]
January 2025
January 19: The implementation of a ceasefire will allow for a surge in humanitarian assistance to Gaza. This says relief organizations need to last for a long time before life returns to a similarity of normalcy.
Israel has allowed more trucks to enter Gaza a few days after the truce comes into effect, but the amount of aid is far less than what was agreed on in the ceasefire.
When a baby dies in the cold, the Israeli government will prevent the invasion of thousands of mobile homes to evacuate evacuated Palestinians, along with the heavy equipment needed to clear out tile bleaches of destroyed homes and infrastructure.
March 2025
March 2: Israel has stopped all humanitarian entry into Gaza for the second time since the war began. March 10: Philip Lazarini, head of the United Nations Palestinian Refugee Agency (UNRWA), warns that another hunger crisis looms in Gaza, condemning Israel’s illegal “weaponization of humanitarian aid.” March 18: Israel has concluded a ceasefire, and its military is still running one of Gaza’s heaviest bombing campaigns, killing more than 400 Palestinians and wounding more than 500 children on the first day alone. March 25: The United Nations announced that 30% of international staff will be withdrawn from Gaza on March 19 after an Israeli air attack killed UN staff in Bulgarian and seriously injured six other foreign workers.
Source link
