In a statement on Monday, the office confirmed that deaths due to hunger, including among children, had been recorded amid ongoing hostilities and restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid. It emphasized that severe hunger and the complete collapse of basic services in the Gaza Strip now threaten the lives of the population, which numbers approximately 2.1 million, half of whom are children.
For his part, UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric stated during a press conference at the organization's headquarters in Geneva that preventing these deaths requires the regular and widespread delivery of humanitarian aid through all possible crossings and routes.
Dujarric expressed the United Nations' concern over the Israeli authorities' announcement of their intention to expand their military operations inside Gaza City, warning that this would lead to new waves of displacement toward overcrowded areas deprived of the most basic necessities of life, such as food, water, and medical services.
In a related development, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Fletcher said on Tuesday that 2024 saw the deaths of a record 383 aid workers, nearly half of them in Gaza. In a statement marking World Humanitarian Day, Fletcher added that this number represents a stark warning about the deteriorating protection of civilians and humanitarian workers in conflict zones.
Fletcher noted that most of the aid worker victims were national cadres, killed while performing their duties or in their homes. He called for those responsible for these violations to be held accountable, stressing that "the continuation of attacks of this magnitude without accountability is a shameful indictment of the international community's silence and inaction."
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On August 8, the Israeli government approved a plan proposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to gradually reoccupy the entire Gaza Strip, starting with Gaza City. On August 11, as part of the plan's implementation, the Israeli occupation army launched a large-scale attack on the Zeitoun neighborhood, southeast of Gaza City. This included the destruction of homes using booby-trapped robots, artillery shelling, indiscriminate gunfire, and forced displacement, according to eyewitnesses who spoke to Anadolu Agency.
On Friday, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority reported that the Israeli occupation army was preparing to accelerate its "military operation" aimed at occupying Gaza City. The same day, the occupation army also announced that the "99th Division" had begun operating in recent days in the Zeitoun neighborhood.
The plan begins with the occupation of Gaza City, by displacing approximately one million Palestinians to the south, then encircling the city and carrying out incursions into residential areas.
This will be followed by a second phase, including the occupation of the refugee camps in the central Gaza Strip, large parts of which have been destroyed by Israel, as part of a war that has been ongoing since October 7, 2023. With American support, Israel is committing genocide, including murder, starvation, destruction, and forced displacement, ignoring all international appeals and orders from the International Court of Justice to halt the war.
The Israeli genocide left 62,004 Palestinians dead, 156,230 injured, most of them children and women, more than 9,000 missing, hundreds of thousands displaced, and a famine that claimed the lives of 263 people, including 112 children.
