Gaza is on the verge of famine and the world is not doing enough to prevent the population from starving. The most precarious situation is being witnessed in the north of Gaza where access is difficult and the few remaining people there are unable to get the direly needed aid. Ever since the war with Hamas started following the Oct 7 incident, Israel has been maintaining strict control over aid entering Gaza. Every shipment is being inspected before being allowed to enter from the south. And this process is taking a lot of time due to which aid is not reaching people on time. The worst affected is northern Gaza.
Recently the Israeli army had announced that six World Food Programme aid trucks had crossed into northern Gaza from Israel under a pilot project. The aim of the project is to prevent Hamas from taking over the aid therefore each truck is being thoroughly inspected. The United Nations and various aid groups have been facing difficulty in reaching northern Gaza to deliver food and other humanitarian supplies. The situation is very serious, and it’s not just an issue of Israel ensuring that aid does not land in the hands of Hamas. It is a deliberate attempt to starve the entire Palestinian population living in Gaza.
And there is the statement of the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, to substantiate it. Speaking at the United Nations Security Council, Borrell said the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is “not a natural disaster” and that Israel was using starvation it as a “weapon of war”. He termed it a man-made crisis, saying that roads were being artificially closed and they had to look for alternative ways to provide support by sea and air.
A number of countries are trying to send aid to the Gazans, including Morocco, Spain and Germany. However, the routes that they have been restricted to use are sea and air, which are not effective. What they want is to access the helpless population through land, which is more effective. They can reach maximum number of people through land than any other way.
Scenes of people running for the aid dropped from air is painful. Many are unable to reach it this way. Even US lawmakers, including Senator Bernie Sanders, have called on President Joe Biden to enforce “The Foreign Assistance Act” in the ongoing bombardment of Gaza by Israel.
As per the law, Israel should stop restricting access to humanitarian aid to Gaza or US military aid to it would be forfeited. But does it matter to Israel. It is therefore high time the international community took a firm stand to force Israel to stop the genocide and allow humanitarian aid to the Gazans who are facing bombardment for the last five months.
