For the first time, the UN Food Security Service (IPC) speaks of “starvation” in the Gaza Strip after 22 months of war. According to a report by the service released on Friday, more than 500,000 people are in immediate danger, including 132,000 children under 5. “Particularly critical” is the situation for 41,000 children- twice the number of last May. It is obvious that providing help through a … airplane is not enough.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), it is the first time that “starvation” has been recorded in a Middle East country. “This is a failure of humanity,” says UN Secretary -General Antonio Guterres. Tom Fletcher, a United Nations Food Assistance Coordinator, appeals to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “Let us transfer food and other essentials to large quantities and without obstacles. End revenge. “

‘The nightmare becomes a reality’

“The script has become a reality,” says Jeremy Lawrence, a spokesman for the UN Human Rights Office. For his part, Falker Turk, UN Human Rights High Commissioner for Human Rights, warns: “It is a war crime to choose starvation as a weapon.” More specifically, Turkish estimates that “Israel has destroyed significant infrastructure and all arable land, has banned fishing, has displaced the population.”

Israel: There is no starvation

The Israeli Foreign Ministry, in its announcement today, argues that “there is no starvation in Gaza”, that IPC estimates are only a “Hamas Fake News campaign” and that more than 100,000 humanitarian trucks have been in the Gaza Strip. Particularly in recent weeks, the Israeli Foreign Ministry notes, “local markets have been flooded with essentials, resulting in significant prices.”

The Israeli Army service responsible for providing humanitarian aid to occupied Palestinian territories (Cogat) also rejects the IPC report, saying that its conclusions are “prejudiced” and “do not respond to reality”.

Sources: DPA, Reuters, AFP, ARD