Famine confirmed in Gaza by UN as Israel escalates assault
Israel’s large-scale assault on Gaza City is a deliberate act of mass displacement and a clear violation of international law.
The intentions behind this operation are not hidden. Senior Israeli officials have openly stated their aim to displace Palestinians and establish Israeli settlements in their place permanently. This is not a temporary measure: it is part of a systematic strategy to ethnically cleanse Palestinian presence in Gaza, just as similar policies of dispossession continue in the West Bank.
Already, parts of Gaza City are being relentlessly bombarded, flattening what remains of neighbourhoods and making it impossible for health workers to reach victims. In the last 24 hours alone, at least 81 Palestinians have been killed in the violence. Over 780,000 people have been newly displaced, yet there is nowhere safe to go.
Nearly one million Palestinians are now at risk of being driven from their homes in Gaza, in what amounts to ethnic cleansing carried out in plain sight.
This offensive comes as more than half a million people in Gaza are now trapped in famine - a deliberate crisis in which starvation is used as a weapon of war to forcibly displace Palestinian populations. Over 640,000 people are expected to face Catastrophic levels of food insecurity (IPC Phase 5) by the end of September. In Gaza City alone, more than one in four children is now acutely malnourished.
From Othman Moqbel, CEO, Action For Humanity International:
“Israel’s military assault on Gaza City is unfolding at the very moment famine has been confirmed for the first time in Gaza. Importantly, none of these egregious actions is taking place in isolation.
It is no coincidence that an advancement into Gaza City and the declaration of famine come at a time when Israel has approved the annexation of swathes of Palestinian land in the West Bank. These are not individual failings within a system, but the inevitable outcome of a system which itself is designed to undermine the human rights of the Palestinian people. We are watching a policy of genocide run its course.”The International Court of Justice has already ruled that Israel’s occupation and annexation are illegal. Yet the UK has failed to act beyond condemnation. The UK government has very clear tools which they refuse to utilise:
+ An immediate halt on all arms and arms parts to Israel, including those from the F-35 programme.
+ Suspension of all reconnaissance flights over Gaza.
+ An end to the UK military’s training of Israeli soldiers.
+ Increase the use of sanctions on those in key positions in the Israeli government.
+ Commit to enforcing the legal rulings as laid out by both the ICC and ICJ.
Every day of inaction enables further atrocities. Children are being starved while the UK Government ties its own hands behind its back. We cannot undo the horrors already committed, but we can act before the next ones unfold.
Notes to editor
Representatives from the organisation are available for an interview.
For more information, contact Jake Marais, Communications and Advocacy Coordinator for Action For Humanity at jacob.marais@actionforhumanity.org or +447597 486 270.
Action For Humanity provides aid and assistance to people affected by natural and man-made disasters. We are the parent charity of Syria Relief, the UK’s largest Syria-focused humanitarian aid organisation. As an NGO we are guided by our drive to help others, not profit. Based in Manchester, Action For Humanity has operations in Syria, Yemen, and Gaza, among others. We have operated in Gaza since 2021, and since the escalation in violence in October 2023, we have supported well over 160,000 people.
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