Israel’s total blockade of Gaza has reached its 60th day, as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague holds the third day of hearings on Israel’s humanitarian obligations to Palestinians.
No food, water or medical supplies have been allowed into the war-torn Gaza Strip since March 2, days before Israel broke the ceasefire on March 18 to restart the bombardments and ground assaults that have killed more than 52,000 Palestinians in the enclave since October 7, 2023.
The United Nations has warned of “full-scale famine conditions” across the Strip and called for “concerted” action to stop the “humanitarian catastrophe” there.
The UN’s World Food Programme says all of its bakeries have shut down and all of its stocks inside Gaza have been fully depleted.
According to a report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), widespread forced displacement has forced many people to abandon food supplies and emergency stocks secured during the ceasefire signed in January.
Furthermore, most people cannot bake for themselves due to acute shortages of cooking fuel and the soaring cost of wheat flour, the report said.
People are also forced to rely on aid supplies as farmers and breeders cannot access their land, as 70 percent of the enclave has been designated as a “no-go” area or is under displacement orders by the Israeli military, the report added.
The remaining soup kitchens in Gaza say they may have to shut down within days unless aid is allowed in.
Precipice of famine
As a result, some families are resorting to eating “whatever they can find”, even if it is not safe for consumption, according to the UN agency for Palestinians, UNRWA.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the WFP told our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic that “aid trucks [are] stuck at the border waiting to enter Gaza”.
In addition, prices inside the enclave have skyrocketed by more than 500 percent, says NGO Mercy Corps, which warn that Gaza’s food systems could collapse entirely unless borders open immediately.
The world’s hunger watchdog, known as the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) system, has begun an analysis of the lack of food and malnutrition in the Gaza Strip.
The assessment began on April 28 and will last one week, according to OCHA. More than 50 trained analysts from UN agencies and aid groups, from the Gaza Strip and abroad, are taking part in the exercise, it said.
The IPC had issued at least four warnings since Israel’s genocidal actions on Gaza began, saying the territory could be teetering on the precipice of famine.
Hospitals are also overwhelmed by the large influx of patients and injuries, and medical staff warn that many are dying due to the shortage of medical supplies, according to Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Gaza City.
“Medical staff warn there are many more dying quietly inside emergency words of the remaining health facilities due to the shortage of medical supplies. Medications as simple as painkillers are not available,” he said.
Meanwhile, in The Hague, the United States on Wednesday strongly defended Israel’s actions in Gaza.
Josh Simmons, a legal adviser from the US State Department, told the ICJ that Israel does not have to work with UNRWA, the critical aid organisation in the enclave, due to “its security interests”.
The top court of the United Nations is holding a week of hearings on what Israel must do to provide desperately needed humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, following a request for an advisory opinion from the UN General Assembly last year.
This also involves the Israeli work ban for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
