Israel faces international anger as Gazans starve

World leaders pressure Israel to let in aid as famine spreads across Gaza

Naima Abu Ful poses for a photo with her 2-year-old malnourished child, Yazan.
If Israel hopes to maintain the backing of the U.S., it will have to end the war and show more "respect for civilian life."
(Image credit: Jehad Alshrafi / AP)

What happened

As evidence mounted of widespread famine conditions in Gaza, President Trump this week demanded that Israel allow "every ounce of food" into the enclave, blaming Israel's blockade for triggering "real starvation." Israel blocked all supplies to Gaza for nearly three months starting in March, when it ended a cease-fire. It then took over the task of food distribution from the U.N. in May, but it set up just four distribution sites for 2.2 million people. "The worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in the Gaza Strip," the U.N.-backed hunger authority Integrated Food Security Phase Classification said this week, with one-third of Gaza's population going without food for days and health-care workers fainting from hunger on the job. More than 20,000 children have been hospitalized for acute malnutrition, and 85 have died, said the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. One baby, 5-month-old Zainab Abu Halib, died weighing 4.4 pounds, less than her birth weight. Without immediate aid, said Gaza pediatrician Ahmed al-Farah, "we will witness unprecedented numbers of deaths."

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