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<h1>Palestinians ‘starving’ in northern Gaza as Israel presses assault</h1><p class="gmail-article__subhead"><em>Northern Gaza hospitals say food and medicine running out amid siege, as Israel continues bombardment across territory.</em></p><div class="gmail-responsive-image"><img src="https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/2024-10-06T064323Z_364700149_RC25BAAH7WVP_RTRMADP_3_ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS-ANNIVERSARY-GAZA-RUBBLE-1729098765.jpg?resize=770%2C513&quality=80" alt="gaza" width="491" height="327" style="margin-right: 25px;"></div>Northern Gaza has been repeatedly bombarded and invaded by Israeli ground troops [Mahmoud Issa/Reuters]<div class="gmail-article-info-block"><div class="gmail-article-b-l"><div class="gmail-article-dates"><div class="gmail-date-simple gmail-css-1yjq2zp"><span class="gmail-screen-reader-text">Published On 16 Oct 2024</span><span aria-hidden="true"> -<font size="1"> </font></span><font size="1"><a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/10/16/palestinians-starving-in-northern-gaza-as-israel-presses-assault">https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/10/16/palestinians-starving-in-northern-gaza-as-israel-presses-assault</a></font></div></div></div><div class="gmail-social-share-buttons"><div class="gmail-update-reading-list"></div></div></div><div class="gmail-update-reading-list"><span class="gmail-update-reading-list__tooltip" role="tooltip"></span></div><a class="gmail-social-share-button" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-label="Share on Facebook" href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Faje.io%2Ftxaifi"></a><a class="gmail-social-share-button" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-label="Share on Twitter" href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Palestinians%20%E2%80%98starving%E2%80%99%20in%20northern%20Gaza%20as%20Israel%20presses%20assault&source=sharethiscom&related=sharethis&via=AJEnglish&url=https%3A%2F%2Faje.io%2Ftxaifi"></a><a class="gmail-social-share-button gmail-copylink" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-label="Copy link" href="https://aje.io/txaifi"></a><p>Palestinian
health officials have called for a humanitarian corridor to three
hospitals in northern Gaza that have come close to collapse after
Israeli troops have cut off the area during almost two weeks of a
renewed ground assault.</p>
<p>Doctors at the Kamal Adwan, al-Awda and Indonesian hospitals have
refused to leave their patients despite evacuation orders issued by the
Israeli military at the start of the offensive into the Jabalia area of
northern Gaza 12 days ago.</p>
<p>“We are calling on the international community, the Red Cross and the
World Health Organization, to play their humanitarian role by opening
up a corridor towards our healthcare system and allow the entry of fuel,
medical, delegations, supplies and food,” said Hussam Abu Safiya,
director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, on Wednesday.</p>
<p>“We are talking about more than 300 medical staff working at Kamal
Adwan Hospital, and we can’t provide even a single meal for them to be
able to offer medical services safely.”</p>
<p>In addition to Jabalia, Israel’s ground assault in ravaged northern
Gaza has also targeted Beit Hanoon and Beit Lahiya. The area has been
repeatedly bombarded and invaded by Israeli ground troops since Israel
launched its assault on Gaza last October.</p><div style="display:block;min-width:0px;max-width:770px"><div class="gmail-video-player-facade-container"><div class="gmail-aj-video-player gmail-in-article-bc-video-player gmail-aj-parsed-component"><span class="gmail-video-js gmail-vjs-paused gmail-vjs-controls-enabled gmail-vjs-touch-enabled gmail-vjs-workinghover gmail-vjs-v8 gmail-vjs-user-active gmail-vjs-layout-medium gmail-bc-player-6tKQRAx7lu_default gmail-bc-player-6tKQRAx7lu_default-index-1 gmail-vjs-ad-controls gmail-vjs-ima3-html5 gmail-vjs-plugins-ready gmail-pause-controller gmail-vjs-player-info gmail-vjs-contextmenu-ui gmail-vjs-viewability gmail-vjs-errors gmail-vjs-quality-menu" id="gmail-vjs_video_1302" tabindex="-1" lang="en" role="region" aria-label="Video Player"><div class="gmail-vjs-poster" aria-disabled="false"><span class="gmail-vjs-poster" tabindex="-1"><img alt="" src="https://cf-images.eu-west-1.prod.boltdns.net/v1/static/665003303001/f13ac08c-8978-4806-88d9-aeaef3e7f722/ffa257f7-02d0-41ff-98cc-7d25ac833066/1920x1080/match/image.jpg" width="491" height="276" style="margin-right: 0px;"></span></div><div class="gmail-vjs-text-track-display"><div style="margin:1.5%"></div></div></span></div></div></div><div class="gmail-aj-video-player gmail-in-article-bc-video-player gmail-aj-parsed-component"><span class="gmail-video-js gmail-vjs-paused gmail-vjs-controls-enabled gmail-vjs-touch-enabled gmail-vjs-workinghover gmail-vjs-v8 gmail-vjs-user-active gmail-vjs-layout-medium gmail-bc-player-6tKQRAx7lu_default gmail-bc-player-6tKQRAx7lu_default-index-1 gmail-vjs-ad-controls gmail-vjs-ima3-html5 gmail-vjs-plugins-ready gmail-pause-controller gmail-vjs-player-info gmail-vjs-contextmenu-ui gmail-vjs-viewability gmail-vjs-errors gmail-vjs-quality-menu" id="gmail-vjs_video_1302" tabindex="-1" lang="en" role="region" aria-label="Video Player"></span></div><div class="gmail-video-duration__brand-bar"><span class="gmail-screen-reader-text">Video Duration 6 minutes 39 seconds </span><span aria-hidden="true" class="gmail-video-duration__duration">6:39</span></div>
<p> </p>
<p>Since the latest incursion, it has been completely sealed off, according to Palestinian Civil Defence spokesman Mahmoud Basal.</p>
<p>The UN estimates that some 400,000 people are trapped in northern
Gaza and have been unable to leave due to intense bombardment, as well
as the presence of Israeli snipers and ground troops.</p>
<p>For 12 days, no food has been delivered to the area, Basal said.</p>
<p>“They are not only trapped, but also lacking food, drink, and
medicine,” he said, adding that scarce medical supplies are also
dwindling.</p>
<p>The Gaza Ministry of Health said the continuing Israeli offensive has
killed around 350 Palestinians in Jabalia and nearby areas.</p>
<p>In Gaza City on Wednesday, an Israeli air strike on a house killed 13
people, medics said. In its daily update, the Gaza Ministry of Health
said Israeli military strikes had killed at least 65 Palestinians across
the enclave in the past 24 hours.</p>
<p>Munir al-Bursh, the director-general of Gaza’s Ministry of Health,
said more than half of the dead are women and children and many bodies
remain in the streets and under the rubble, with rescue teams unable to
reach them because of Israeli strikes.</p>
<p>“Entire families have disappeared,” said al-Bursh.</p>
<h2 id="gmail-people-are-starving">‘People are starving’</h2>
<p>The dire humanitarian situation has prompted worldwide alarm, with
the United States issuing one of its strongest warnings to Israel that
it must improve the situation or face potential restrictions on military
aid.</p>
<p>“A policy of starvation in northern Gaza would be horrific and
unacceptable and would have implications under international law and US
law,” said Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the United
Nations, on Wednesday during a UN Security Council meeting.</p>
<p>The US has previously vetoed multiple resolutions that called for a ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza.</p>
<p>France and China also called for an end to the war and immediate humanitarian relief in Gaza’s north.</p>
<p>The Israeli military meanwhile said it has killed more than 50
Palestinian fighters in air strikes and close combat in recent days. It
has told people to evacuate to what it claimed were safer areas in the
south, fuelling fears among Palestinians that the drive is aimed at
clearing them from northern Gaza permanently.</p>
<p>The Israeli military denies restricting aid supplies, saying that
since October 1, more than 9,000 tons of humanitarian aid including
food, water, gas, shelter equipment, and medical supplies have entered
Gaza through various crossings.</p><div style="display:block;min-width:0px;max-width:770px"><div class="gmail-video-player-facade-container"><div class="gmail-aj-video-player gmail-in-article-bc-video-player gmail-aj-parsed-component"><span class="gmail-video-js gmail-vjs-paused gmail-vjs-controls-enabled gmail-vjs-touch-enabled gmail-vjs-workinghover gmail-vjs-v8 gmail-vjs-user-active gmail-vjs-layout-medium gmail-bc-player-6tKQRAx7lu_default gmail-bc-player-6tKQRAx7lu_default-index-2 gmail-vjs-ad-controls gmail-vjs-ima3-html5 gmail-vjs-plugins-ready gmail-pause-controller gmail-vjs-player-info gmail-vjs-contextmenu-ui gmail-vjs-viewability gmail-vjs-errors gmail-vjs-quality-menu" id="gmail-vjs_video_2735" tabindex="-1" lang="en" role="region" aria-label="Video Player"><div class="gmail-vjs-poster" aria-disabled="false"><span class="gmail-vjs-poster" tabindex="-1"><img alt="" src="https://cf-images.eu-west-1.prod.boltdns.net/v1/static/665003303001/5a26c2aa-1cdc-48cd-91fc-19cab1d70f7b/56fe2db8-dd59-43c1-ba44-4546b877df98/1920x1080/match/image.jpg" width="491" height="276" style="margin-right: 0px;"></span></div><div class="gmail-vjs-text-track-display"><div style="margin:1.5%"></div></div></span></div></div></div><div style="display:block;min-width:0px;max-width:770px"><div class="gmail-video-player-facade-container"><div class="gmail-aj-video-player gmail-in-article-bc-video-player gmail-aj-parsed-component"><span class="gmail-video-js gmail-vjs-paused gmail-vjs-controls-enabled gmail-vjs-touch-enabled gmail-vjs-workinghover gmail-vjs-v8 gmail-vjs-user-active gmail-vjs-layout-medium gmail-bc-player-6tKQRAx7lu_default gmail-bc-player-6tKQRAx7lu_default-index-2 gmail-vjs-ad-controls gmail-vjs-ima3-html5 gmail-vjs-plugins-ready gmail-pause-controller gmail-vjs-player-info gmail-vjs-contextmenu-ui gmail-vjs-viewability gmail-vjs-errors gmail-vjs-quality-menu" id="gmail-vjs_video_2735" tabindex="-1" lang="en" role="region" aria-label="Video Player"></span></div><div class="gmail-video-duration__brand-bar"><span class="gmail-screen-reader-text">Video Duration 1 minutes 42 seconds </span><span aria-hidden="true" class="gmail-video-duration__duration">1:42</span></div></div>
<p></p></div>
<p> </p>
<p>It said some of that aid was transferred directly into northern Gaza.
Gaza’s Government Media Office refuted the claim, saying Israel’s
“lies” about allowing trucks in are completely false.</p>
<p>“Nothing entered northern Gaza. People in northern Gaza are
starving,” said Hadeel Obeid, a supervisor nurse at the Indonesian
Hospital, where 28 patients were being treated.</p>
<p>“Our administrative manager provides just one meal for all persons
including doctors, nurses, patients, and their companions. It’s a small
amount, not enough for an adult person,” she told Reuters news agency
via a messaging app.</p>
<p>Like Basal, she said medical supplies were running out due to the daily demands of caring for the wounded.</p>
<p>Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Deir el-Balah, said at
least 50 humanitarian aid trucks from the Jordanian capital, Amman, had
arrived in Gaza City, but they “did not reach besieged areas, including
Jabalia, Beit Hanoon and Beit Lahiya”.</p>
<p>He said Israeli strikes have also continued across Gaza, including the central areas.</p>
<h2 id="gmail-polio-vaccinations">Polio vaccinations</h2>
<p>Meanwhile, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine
Refugees (UNRWA) said that on day two of a polio vaccination campaign in
Gaza, more than 64,000 children had received the drops and 51,000
vitamin A doses.</p>
<p>The World Health Organization (WHO) urged Israel to ensure the
necessary conditions to finish the job of vaccinating Gaza’s children
against polio,</p>
<p class="gmail-p1">“We call for the humanitarian pauses to continue to be
respected. We call for a ceasefire and peace,” WHO director-general
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X.</p>
<p>Rachael Cummings, a health specialist with Save the Children, said
the situation for children across the coastal enclave is “absolutely
dire”.</p>
<p>“People are in survival mode. … People are looking for food, looking
for water. There is not adequate sanitation, and hygiene practices are
decimated,” Cummings told Al Jazeera.</p>
<p>Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 42,400 people, mosly women
and children, since October 2023, according to the Palestinian Health
Ministry.</p><li tabindex="4"><br> <div class="gmail-playlist-item-image-container"><div class="gmail-video-item-duration-container gmail-playlist-item-duration-container"></div></div></li></div>