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Well-known English actor Michael Caine finally cuts through the silence, showing sympathy for the children of Gaza who are being starved to death due to the ongoing, crippling Israeli siege on the Strip.
“Feed the children of Gaza, no child should be starving,” he rebukes Israel.
https://x.com/andres20ad/status/1948757483477958735
CrossFireArabia
New Islamic Relief analysis of UN data1 reveals July is now the deadliest month in Gaza for 18 months, with Israel killing one person every 12 minutes as it accelerates the systematic targeting and starvation of civilians.
An average of 119 Palestinians are being killed daily so far in July – the highest rate since January 2024. More than 401 Palestinians a day are being wounded, the highest figure since December 2023, whilst doctors report 19 people, mostly children, died from starvation in just one day this week – victims not just of violence, but of a deliberate policy of deprivation and man-made famine.
The killings have accelerated since Israel imposed its new heavily militarised food distribution scheme in late-June, with almost daily massacres of starving people as they try to collect food. The Israeli blockade has systematically impeded humanitarian aid, forcing people into starvation and shooting those who seek aid. Hundreds of desperate civilians have been gunned down, with many of the wounded piled onto donkey carts as ambulances are prevented from reaching them.
Waseem Ahmad, Chief Executive of Islamic Relief Worldwide, says world leaders must urgently take action to stop the escalating slaughter:
“The rate of killing is accelerating every day that world leaders fail to act. We are witnessing people massacred just for trying to get food, water or medicine. We’re seeing babies and young children starve to death because Israel is blocking humanitarian aid. We’re seeing starving families ordered to leave their homes, then bombed in the tents where they are told to shelter. Israel is using starvation as a weapon of war, shutting down the humanitarian system then forcing people to militarised death traps.
“There is no excuse for inaction when five more people are being killed every single hour. Every minute costs lives. Gaza’s entire society is being killed – sons, daughters, parents, medics, teachers, artists, aid workers, journalists, entrepreneurs, engineers, poets, farmers. No one is spared.
“This dehumanisation and normalisation of suffering must not be allowed to continue. Governments that fail to act are complicit. More words of condemnation and concern are not enough – we urgently need world leaders to take meaningful action to pressure Israel to stop the killing and allow humanitarian aid to reach those in need. That means ending all arms sales, suspending trade agreements and banning produce from illegal Israeli settlements. Only increased and sustained international pressure can stop this catastrophe and save lives.”
International governments have a moral and legal duty to act to prevent genocide, in line with the ruling of the International Court of Justice. They must flatly refuse the militarised distribution system and demand the restoration of the UN-coordinated humanitarian response, in line with humanitarian principles and international law.
Most of the casualties are civilians and at least 30% of people killed throughout the crisis are children. UNICEF says that 28 children are being killed every day and the global Protection Cluster warned last week that 10 children a day in Gaza are losing a limb, with a surge in amputations due to missile strikes and artillery fire.
In total, around 9% of Gaza’s entire pre-war population have now been killed or wounded, with over 59,000 people dead and over 140,000 wounded – many with life-changing injuries such as loss of limbs.
Notes
CrossFireArabia
This is a story posted on linkedin recently by a young man in north Gaza who went with his friend to try and get a bag of flour for his family. His name is Abdalghani Owda and a founder of the Gaza Tech Club. This is his account of that morning, as he ducked through Israeli machine guns, deadly quadcopters and the man whose brain gushed out of his head! In the end he didn’t get the flour but says he hoped to comeback the next day!
“I want to quickly tell you about one of the worst and most difficult days of my life.
Today, Sunday, July 20.
At 8:00 AM, my phone rang. It was my friend.
He said, “Hurry, I’m waiting for you. We need to go to the Zikim area in northern Gaza because trucks carrying flour will be arriving in an hour.”
Without realizing it, I quickly washed my face, got dressed, and flew to my friend’s house, saying, “Oh God!”
Hurry, hurry, let’s walk so we can arrive early and be among the first to take our pick.
As we reached Al-Bahr Street, I found a human flood, perhaps 5 kilometers long.
Everyone was coming to take their share of flour, just like us.
I said, “Come on, I won’t leave. Everyone gets their share, and if we have something, we’ll take it.”
Of course, I didn’t eat breakfast because there was no breakfast.
There was a man selling falafel. A disc was the size of a pill and cost 1 shekel.
That means if I wanted to eat my fill, I’d need 100 shekels (US$29) to truly break my fast.
I bought for 10 shekels, and we said: “Anything is better than nothing.”
We kept walking northward, hoping my friend and I would have a better chance of getting a bag of flour.
The closer we got, the more dangerous the situation became.
The sound of bullets whistling past my head.
The closer I got, the more intense the bullets became.
There was a robotic arm hanging from a very high crane, and it was clearly operating automatically, firing randomly.
The tank was stationary, directly firing at anyone in its path.
My friend and I were barely 150 meters away from the tank.
We were already in a restricted area, but we had to take the risk to have a higher chance of getting flour.
For half an hour, we were hiding in a high earthen embankment to protect us from bullets and artillery shelling.
A short while later, the trucks arrived.
As soon as people attacked to get flour, the quadcopters came out and activated their machine guns. Blood began to flow.
More than five young men around me were killed instantly, in addition to the large number of injuries.
Honestly, I didn’t see any of them, and nothing mattered to me at all except getting home with a bag of flour.
I got very close to the truck, but it was very crowded and the situation was very dangerous.
A shot from the quadcopter hit right under my feet, and I felt it very strongly.
I told myself I had to step back a little.
I stepped back a little.
There was artillery fire, and the truck driver started to move because the truck was empty.
A man, about 40 years old, was standing in front of the truck.
The truck ran over him and drove over his head.
His brain came out of his skull and onto the ground, and the man died instantly.
Of course, I couldn’t get over this scene or this man.
I went to see him, maybe he was someone I knew personally.
It turned out to be someone I didn’t know, but my friend and I grabbed his body and moved it away from the middle of the road. I had a large empty bag with me just in case.
My friend and I picked up the man’s brain that came out of his skull and put it in the bag I had with us. We tried to find some young men to come with us and carry the body.
We put the body on a donkey-drawn cart, which contained a large number of dead bodies and injured people.
Then, within the 10 minutes we spent collecting the dead man, the trucks ran out of flour, leaving nothing left for us to take.
We returned with nothing.
We are waiting for tomorrow to go again, or for God to provide a way out for us and the people of Gaza.
A story I will never forget in my life.
This is a scene from life in Gaza. I am recounting it to you, and the image of the man who was run over by the truck is still etched in my mind and will never leave.
May God have mercy on this man, on all our martyrs, and on all the people of Gaza, and grant them a way out of this great distress and this intense suffering.
CrossFireArabia
Israel’s army has destroyed massive amounts of humanitarian aid meant for Gaza, including food, medical supplies, and bottled water, according to a report by Israel’s public broadcaster Kan.
The spoiled aid, left rotting at the Kerem Shalom crossing for weeks, was buried or burned. “We buried everything in the ground, even burned some of it,” said an Israeli army source. “Even today, there are thousands of packages waiting in the sun. If they are not transferred into Gaza, we will be forced to destroy them too.”
The aid totaled over 1,000 truckloads, the source added.
Military officials blamed the destruction on what they called a failed aid distribution mechanism, referring to the Israeli-US Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). “The mechanism simply doesn’t work,” one officer said. “The trucks are stuck. There is no functioning coordination. The roads are damaged. Nothing is moving.”
Thousands of packages continue to sit at the crossing point, rotting in the heat.
Officials said that even during previous ceasefire deals, large quantities of aid never reached Palestinian civilians. “During the prisoner exchange deal, 4,500 trucks allegedly entered daily. Much of it never left the crossing area,” the army source said.
Currently, only about 100 to 150 trucks enter Gaza daily, a fraction of the need. That aid too is reportedly “spoiling fast.”
Israeli military officials also dismissed suggestions of air-dropping aid into Gaza. “That has already failed, just like the seaport idea,” one said.
This revelation comes as Israel continues to starved Palestinians in Gaza for over 145 days. Over 122 people, most of them are babies, were staved to death by Israel according to Quds News Network.
CrossFireArabia
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has again sounded the alarm over the catastrophic and rapidly deteriorating conditions in the Gaza Strip as Israeli military operations continue to cause death, displacement and destruction.
In an update on Friday, OCHA said that the starvation crisis is deepening across the enclave, with the local health authorities announcing that two more people had died from starvation the previous day.
Hunger and malnutrition increase the risk of illnesses that weaken the immune system, particularly among women, children, older people and persons with disabilities or chronic diseases, with deadly consequences.
Food scarcity also impacts pregnant and breastfeeding women, increasing the risk of their babies being born with health complications and affecting mothers’ ability to breastfeed.
The small trickle of supplies making it into the Strip is nowhere near adequate to address the immense needs as Israeli authorities continue to impose constraints on humanitarians and hamper their response.
Out of 15 attempts to coordinate humanitarian movements inside Gaza on Thursday, four were outright denied, three were impeded, one was postponed and two others had to be cancelled by the organisers, with only five missions facilitated.
Even though the limited amount of fuel received yesterday was fully allocated to community kitchens, healthcare and water and sanitation facilities, the fuel shortage continues as the quantities entering Gaza remain insufficient to maintain essential facilities.
Despite severe constraints, UN teams are prepared to ramp up aid delivery and address these severe needs as soon as they are allowed to do so.
For the UN to accelerate the delivery of food aid, health services, clean water and waste management, nutrition supplies and shelter materials, Israel must open its crossings, allow fuel and equipment in and permit humanitarian staff to operate safely.
The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Tom Fletcher, said in a social media post on Thursday that “we must save as many lives as we can – and we have a plan.”
The plan he shared with Member States outlines the necessary steps to stop the horror and alleviate constraints on humanitarian operations.
Mr. Fletcher has also written to the head of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the aid distribution model backed by Israel and the United States, reiterating that the UN is ready to engage with any partner to provide desperately needed humanitarian aid to Gaza.
He stressed that any such partnership must adhere to the globally accepted principles of humanity, impartiality neutrality and independence, with aid going where needs are greatest and without discrimination and that humanitarians answer to civilians in need, not the warring parties.
Mr. Fletcher also said that he welcomes dialogue on how to reach as many people as possible to alleviate suffering without causing harm.
ESCWA: The War on Lebanon Displaces 140,000 Old People
War Places Israeli Society in a Psychological Crisis – Haaretz
Quranic Centers Serve as Protection
Gaza’s Dead Wait For Burial
