The entire Gaza Strip is at “high risk” of famine, the United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has warned, while the UN humanitarian chief cautioned that a spread of the Israel-Palestine conflict to Lebanon would be “potentially apocalyptic.”

The famine alarm was raised as a new report has shown that almost the entire population is facing “acute food insecurity, with 1 in 5 Gazans being on the verge of famine,” said FAO.

Around 459,000 people in Gaza (22 percent) are in a state of “catastrophic food insecurity,” while almost the entire population (96 percent) is facing “crisis levels of acute food insecurity or higher,” according to a paper published by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Global Initiative.

Commenting on the latest findings at a press conference in New York on Wednesday, FAO chief economist Maximo Torero said the agency had observed a high risk of famine over the last eight months. “The relentless hostilities as well as limited access to those in need of urgent humanitarian aid have had severe impacts on the entire population in Gaza,” he said.

“With some 96 percent of the population facing acute food insecurity, any deterioration may push more people into catastrophic levels of hunger,” the FAO chief economist stressed. “(This would happen) For example, if the level of permits and access of humanitarian trucks to Gaza declines and does not increase substantially.”

On the same day, UN humanitarian coordinator Martin Griffiths said that he saw Lebanon as “the flashpoint beyond all flashpoints,” pointing to southern Lebanon in particular.

“We are worried about the potential for further tragedy and deaths,” he said. “It’s potentially apocalyptic.”

Recently, both the U.S. and Israel have warned of the risk of a major conflict against Hezbollah, following an escalation in cross-border fire.

Israel’s military said last week that plans for an offensive in Lebanon were “approved and validated,” prompting fresh threats from Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.

Griffiths warned that a conflict involving Lebanon “will draw in Syria, (and) it will draw in others.”

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and other aid agencies were preparing for a broader crisis, Griffiths said, adding, “The problem is stopping this war from getting worse.”

However, Israeli strikes in Southern Lebanon continue. At least five Lebanese civilians were injured late Wednesday night in Israeli airstrikes that destroyed a residential building in the Al-Mashaa neighborhood of Nabatieh, a city in southern Lebanon, according to medical and military sources speaking anonymously to Xinhua.

Meanwhile, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq said on Wednesday that its fighters launched a drone attack in the morning on a “vital site” in Israel’s southern port city of Eilat.

The militia claimed the attack was carried out “in solidarity with the people of Gaza,” pledging more targeting of “the enemy’s strongholds.”

Besides, Yemen’s Houthi group said on Wednesday they launched a joint drone attack with the Islamic Resistance in Iraq on an Israeli ship docked in the Israeli port of Haifa.

“We will continue these joint military operations with the Iraqi Islamic Resistance in support of the Palestinian people,” Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said, linking the attack to the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He demanded an end to “Israeli aggression” and the lifting of the blockade on Gaza.

Source(s): CGTN

A Chinese envoy on Tuesday urged Israel to “heed overwhelming international calls for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and stop its collective punishment” on the people living there.

The Gaza conflict has been ongoing for more than eight months, resulting in unprecedented destruction and a humanitarian disaster, Fu Cong, China’s permanent representative to the United Nations, said at a UN Security Council session.

There is an overwhelming international consensus on the Gaza conflict, with multiple UN resolutions demanding an immediate and lasting ceasefire, the release of all hostages, the removal of barriers to humanitarian access, and the protection of humanitarian workers, Fu said.

“Following the announcement of a ceasefire initiative on May 31, the United States pushed the Security Council to adopt Resolution 2735, urging Israel and Hamas to accept it. At that time, the United States claimed that Israel had accepted the proposal,” Fu said. “Unfortunately, to this day, we have not seen any concrete indications from Israel that it agrees to implement a lasting ceasefire.”

On the contrary, Israel continues to carry out major military operations, repeatedly attacking refugee camps across Gaza, causing massive casualties and placing humanitarian organizations in danger, he added.

An immediate ceasefire must be implemented, and once achieved, hostilities must not resume, Fu said, adding that causing more civilian casualties is not the way for Israel to rescue hostages held by Hamas.

In the West Bank, Israeli security forces conduct searches, arrests and attacks against Palestinians on a daily basis. Fu said China demands that Israel effectively curb its violence against Palestinian civilians and stop undermining the Palestinian National Authority, including promptly returning the withheld tax revenues.

Urging Israel to immediately cease all settlement activities, the diplomat reiterated China’s position that these activities violate international law and UN Security Council Resolution 2334 as well as erode the prospects for a two-state solution.

The situation in the Red Sea and along the Lebanese-Israeli border is also causing concerns, Fu said, adding that China calls on all sides to exercise restraint.

Source(s): CGTN

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday urged Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to swiftly devise a strong post-war strategy for Gaza and to ensure that tensions with Hezbollah on Israel’s northern border do not escalate further.

A State Department statement following the meeting noted that Blinken briefed Gallant on ongoing diplomatic efforts to advance security, governance and reconstruction in Gaza post-conflict, emphasizing the critical importance of these efforts for Israel’s security.

“He also underscored the importance of avoiding further escalation of the conflict and reaching a diplomatic resolution that allows both Israeli and Lebanese families to return to their homes,” the State Department added.

The viability of a U.S.-backed proposal to wind down the 8-month-long conflict in Gaza has been cast into doubt after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would only be willing to agree to a “partial” ceasefire deal that would not end the war, comments that sparked an uproar from families of hostages held by Hamas.

Netanyahu’s comments stood in sharp contrast to the outlines of the deal detailed late last month by U.S. President Joe Biden, who framed the plan as an Israeli one and which some in Israel refer to as “Netanyahu’s deal.” His remarks could further strain Israel’s ties to the U.S., its top ally, which launched a major diplomatic push for the latest ceasefire proposal, the AP reported.

Hamas has insisted it will not release the remaining hostages unless there’s a permanent ceasefire and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. When Biden announced the latest proposal, he said it included both.

But Netanyahu says Israel is still committed to destroying Hamas’ military and governing capabilities, and ensuring it can never again carry out an October 7-style assault. A full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, where Hamas’ top leadership and much of its forces are still intact, would almost certainly leave the group in control of the territory and able to rearm.

In the interview, Netanyahu said the current phase of fighting is ending, setting the stage for Israel to send more troops to its northern border to confront the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, in what could open up a new war front. But he said that didn’t mean the war in Gaza was over.

Casualties rises continuously

At least seven Palestinians were killed and 22 others wounded in an Israeli air strike in Bani Suhaila town in the east of Khan Younis city in southern Gaza, the Hamas-run health authorities said on Monday.

In a press statement sent to Xinhua, the authorities said the casualties were transferred to the European Hospital in Khan Younis.

Palestinian security sources told Xinhua that Israeli warplanes attacked a group of people, mostly “volunteers with Hamas,” who were securing the trucks loaded with humanitarian aid.

There was no immediate comment about the incident from the Israeli army.

On Monday, the health authorities said about 28 Palestinians were killed and 66 others injured by Israeli strikes in various areas of Gaza over the previous 24 hours.

Inability to access aid

Meanwhile, access and security constraints continue to hinder food aid delivery to hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza and the medical evacuation of 10,000 patients, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Monday.

The OCHA said the inability to transport aid commodities from the Kerem Shalom crossing safely and the continued closure of the Rafah crossing compounded the challenges facing aid operations.

The UN body said fewer than half of the 86 coordinated humanitarian missions to northern Gaza planned for this month were facilitated by Israeli authorities. More than a quarter were impeded, 12 percent were denied access and 12 percent were canceled due to logistical, operational or security reasons.

“A humanitarian mission returning to southern Gaza after delivering fuel and medical supplies to Gaza City in the north was delayed for more than 13 hours at an Israeli military checkpoint, putting the convoy in danger of being caught in crossfire,” the office cited as just one example of the challenges in aid delivery. “Planned humanitarian missions requiring coordination to areas in southern Gaza also continue to face impediments and access denials.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that more than 10,000 people need medical evacuations to outside Gaza. WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus appealed for their sustained medical evacuation and timely passage using all possible routes.

The reconnected U.S.-built pier off the coast of the Gaza Strip cannot supply Palestinians with anywhere near the level of aid they need, the head of the WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean region said on Monday.

Dr Hanan Balkhy made the remarks after the U.S. military began delivering aid through the floating pier again, after it was suspended for a second time because of rough seas.

“The pier has supported a little bit, but it’s not to the scale that is needed by any stretch of the imagination,” Balkhy told the AP in an interview. “So we need to emphasize on the land routes to ensure the amount and the quantity and the efficiency.”

The organization says that since Israel launched its ground operation into Rafah, aid delivery has declined by 67 percent, with over 50 WHO trucks stuck on the Egyptian side of the crossing into the southern city. Meanwhile, just three trucks were allowed into Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing.

Source(s): CGTN