Gaza Faces 'Manmade Famine', UNRWA Warns
(MENAFN) UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, issued a stark warning on Sunday, describing conditions in Gaza as a “manmade famine” and urging a reinstatement of the UN-led humanitarian aid framework in the war-torn enclave.
“We are very, very close to losing our collective humanity,” said Juliette Touma, UNRWA’s director of communications, in a post on social media platform X.
According to Touma, the deepening famine is “largely shaped by the deliberate attempts to replace the UN-coordinated humanitarian system through the politically motivated ‘GHF’ [Gaza Humanitarian Foundation].”
She criticized the Israeli-American alternative initiative, warning it “brings dehumanization, chaos, and death.”
“We must return to a unified, UN-led coordination and distribution system based on international humanitarian law,” she continued, declaring that “the abomination must end.”
The warning comes amid a worsening humanitarian catastrophe. On Saturday, Gaza’s Health Ministry reported that starvation claimed the lives of 11 additional Palestinians, including a child. This raises the number of hunger-related deaths to 251—108 of whom were children—since October 7, 2023.
The ministry also reported that 26 Palestinians were killed and 175 injured while trying to access aid. Since GHF began operations on May 27, at least 1,924 people have died and over 14,288 have been injured while seeking food and assistance.
Despite mounting global calls for a ceasefire, Israel has continued its military campaign in Gaza, which began on October 7, 2023. The offensive has resulted in nearly 61,900 deaths, primarily among women and children, and has left the enclave devastated and on the brink of widespread famine.
In a major legal development last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, citing war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Gaza.
Meanwhile, Israel also stands accused in a separate genocide case at the International Court of Justice, further intensifying international scrutiny over its actions in the enclave.
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