The warnings of famine in Gaza have been getting more urgent. At this point it may even be too late to prevent its spread.
On Thursday the World Court unanimously ordered Israel to take all necessary and effective action to ensure basic food supplies to Gaza’s Palestinian population and halt spreading famine. Judges at the court have said that “The court observes that Palestinians in Gaza are no longer facing only a risk of famine (…) but that famine is setting in”.
The new measures were requested by South Africa as part of its case that accuses Israel of state-led genocide in Gaza. But the global community is becoming increasingly hostile to Israel’s persistent attacks against Gaza and cries of genocide have been spreading. Prime Minister Netanyahu ignores such criticism, even when it comes from Israel’s staunchest ally, Joe Biden, the President of the United States.
The situation in Gaza is dire, with reports indicating that famine is not just a risk, but is already setting in. This crisis is described as an entirely man-made disaster, with the UN Secretary-General António Guterres calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and urging the international community to support humanitarian efforts to prevent the unthinkable. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has reported a sharp increase in acute food insecurity, with a significant portion of Gaza’s population facing catastrophic levels of hunger. The situation is exacerbated by Israel’s restrictions on humanitarian aid and the destruction of vital infrastructure, leading to worsening conditions of life for the people in Gaza.
While the ruling has caught global attention, senior Hamas official Basem Naim said the ruling did not go far enough and Israel must be ordered to end its military offensive to halt the suffering.
“We welcome any new demands to end this humanitarian tragedy in Gaza and especially in the northern Gaza Strip, but we hoped the court ordered a ceasefire as an absolute solution to all the miseries our people in Gaza are living through,” Naim told Reuters.
There was no immediate comment from Israel’s Foreign Ministry on the World Court ruling. Israel has said it is making efforts to expand access for humanitarian groups to Gaza overland, through air drops and by ship, but at this point these measures seem to be totally inadequate for the gravity of the crisis.
The two sides appear to have reached an impasse. Israeli leaders blame Hamas for the situation, claiming that Hamas can end the war by surrendering, freeing all hostages it holds in Gaza and handing over for trial those involved in the Oct. 7 attack. These demands would amount to an unconditional surrender.
At the same time, Hamas decries the carnage that includes attacks against hospitals and other locations where civilians will be the primary victims and refuses to release the remaining hostages.
Despite assurances of cooperation, the Israeli army continues to operate around the Al Shifa Hospital complex in Gaza City after storming it more than a week ago. Its forces had killed around 200 gunmen since the start of the operation “while preventing harm to civilians, patients, medical teams, and medical equipment”, it said.
Ismail Al-Thawabta, the director of the Gaza Hamas-run government media office, said the Israeli army was carrying out “field killings and executions against hundreds of civilians”, when asked about the army statement.
“Everyone inside the Shifa complex are civilians, and there are no military personnel inside the compound,” he told Reuters.
Israel persists in claiming that it is targeting only Hamas militants who use civilian buildings, including apartment blocks and hospitals, for cover, but even if there are Hamas operatives scattered in the civilian population, the great majority of casualties are civilians, children among them.
The numbers are staggering. According to a statement by the territory’s health ministry on Thursday, at least 32,552 Palestinians have been killed and 74,980 wounded in the Gaza strip since Oct. 7. Thousands more dead are believed to be buried under rubble. More than 80% of Gaza’s 2.3 million population is displaced, now many more risk dying of famine.
