As truce negotiations between Hamas and Israeli forces plodded on yesterday, the Gaza Health Ministry announced that the number of Palestinians dead since Israel launched its war on Gaza five months ago has climbed to more than 30,000, while the number of people injured surpassed 70,000, most of the casualties’ being women and children.
Meanwhile, aid organizations have been escalating their warnings of famine in northern Gaza.
Gaza City’s Al-Shifa hospital (which was both bombed and raided by the IDF) is now unable to treat children who are suffering from hunger and dehydration as humanitarian aid continues to be blocked, highlighting the extreme humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
The Health Ministry’s spokesman, Ashraf al-Qudra, urged international organizations on Wednesday to implement rapid measures to prevent even more deaths among Gaza’s vulnerable civilian population.
The United Nations says some 2.3 million people are now on the brink of famine in Gaza. The World Food Programme said famine caused by inadequate delivery of humanitarian aid is “imminent.”
While aircraft dropped food aid packages into Gaza on Tuesday, Israeli officials have denied obstructing humanitarian aid from reaching Gaza by land. The Army claimed that “50 trucks carrying humanitarian aid” have successfully reached northern Gaza in recent days.
US President Joe Biden has been working behind the scenes toward a cessation of violence and a resolution to the humanitarian crisis, through his Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who noted the urgency of reaching an agreement and recognized global responsibility to address the crisis.
Biden told reporters on Monday he expected a ceasefire “by the end of the weekend.”
“We’re close. We’re not done yet,” Biden said. “My hope is, by next Monday, we’ll have a ceasefire.” Israel has agreed to halt military activities in Gaza for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan (likely from March 10 to April 9), according to the President. This will “give us time to get all the hostages out,” he said.
The conflict has led to the displacement of more than one million of Gazans to the south, as they brace for Israel’s announced potential ground offensive on Rafah.