[News] No sense in Gaza ceasefire talks amid Israel’s ‘hunger war’: Hamas

[Anti-Imperialist News]

 No sense in Gaza ceasefire talks amid Israel’s ‘hunger war’: Hamas

*Hamas says it will no longer engage in truce talks amid a catastrophic
hunger crisis created by Israel’s blockade.*
[image: Palestinians struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in
Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Monday, May 5, 2025]
Palestinians struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan
Younis [Abdel Kareem Hana/AP Photo]
Published On 6 May 2025 -
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/5/6/no-sense-in-gaza-ceasefire-talks-amid-israels-hunger-war-hamas
<https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Faje.io%2F9qvyfy>
<https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=No%20sense%20in%20Gaza%20ceasefire%20talks%20amid%20Israel%E2%80%99s%20%E2%80%98hunger%20war%E2%80%99%3A%20Hamas&source=sharethiscom&related=sharethis&via=AJEnglish&url=https%3A%2F%2Faje.io%2F9qvyfy>
<https://aje.io/9qvyfy>

Hamas will no longer engage in ceasefire negotiations with Israel, seeing
no point in doing so “as long as the hunger war and extermination war”
continues on the Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian group’s senior
official.

Basem Naim told the AFP news agency on Tuesday that the international
community must pressure the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu to end the “crimes of hunger, thirst, and killings” in Gaza.

“There is no sense in engaging in talks or considering new ceasefire
proposals as long as the hunger war and extermination war continue in the
Gaza Strip,” he said.

Naim’s remarks came a day after Netanyahu said
<https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/5/5/israel-plans-conquest-of-gaza-in-expanded-offensive>
the population of the enclave “will be moved” in an upcoming expanded
military operation by Israeli forces that would reportedly entail “the
conquest of the Gaza Strip and the holding of the territories”.

Nearly all of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have been displaced multiple
times since Israel began its war on the Palestinian enclave in October 2023.
Total blockade

The humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip has grown increasingly dire
since a total blockade was imposed by Israel on March 2, causing widespread
food shortages as Israel carries out deadly attacks across the enclave.

Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary, reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza,
said Palestinians are “struggling to find food to feed their children” with
some “forced to eat expired or rotten food”, while others cannot find any
form of sustenance.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said this week that food supplies
in Gaza have now “completely run out” in both local markets and
humanitarian distribution centres.

“The population is once again at extreme risk of famine,” the PRCS said in
its latest situation update. “There is an inability to meet even the
minimum daily needs of over a million displaced people.”

According to the PRCS, only “limited quantities of legumes” are currently
being distributed to community kitchens, as all previously stocked aid has
been depleted.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) echoed these concerns,
calling for the immediate entry of humanitarian aid and warning against its
politicisation.

“The level of need among civilians in Gaza right now is overwhelming,” said
ICRC spokesperson Christian Cardon.

“Under international humanitarian law, Israel has an obligation to use all
means available to ensure that the basic needs of the civilian population
under its control are met,” he added.
[image: [Al Jazeera]][Al Jazeera]

Awad, 39, who lives in a tent in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis,
told Al Jazeera on Monday that “Israel has not stopped the war, the
killing, the bombing, the destruction, the siege and the starvation – every
day – so how can they talk about expanding military operations?

“I call on the world to witness the famine that grows and spreads every
day,” he said.

Aya al-Skafy, a resident of Gaza City, told Al Jazeera on Monday that her
baby died because of malnutrition and medicine shortages last week.

“She was four months old and weighed 2.8kg [6.2lb]. Because of severe
malnutrition, she suffered from blood acidity, liver and kidney failure,
and many other complications. Her hair and nails also fell out due to
malnutrition.”
Israeli plans

According to leaked plans, Israel’s government reportedly wants to severely
restrict the way food is distributed in Gaza and is proposing that United
States companies take over distribution from the United Nations and other
humanitarian agencies.

Under the plan, Palestinian families would be allowed to take one food
parcel a week in designated hubs in southern Gaza, and Israel would permit
60 trucks to enter the Gaza Strip every day – just one-tenth of what’s
needed, according to experts.

Aid groups in the UN have rejected this plan, saying it’s a pressure tactic
to further reinforce control over life-saving supplies.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20250506/2fe4b9f8/attachment-0001.htm>