USAID administrator Samantha Power said she accepted “credible” reports that famine was now occurring in northern Gaza and urged Israel to take further steps to surge humanitarian aid shipments. Power told lawmakers that short of famine, civilians in all parts of Gaza, particularly children, are suffering from extreme malnutrition.
Quick Read
- USAID Administrator Samantha Power acknowledged credible reports of famine occurring in northern Gaza, urging Israel to enhance humanitarian aid efforts.
- Power highlighted the severe malnutrition faced by civilians across Gaza, especially children, due to the ongoing conflict.
- Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking in Brussels, emphasized the acute food insecurity affecting all Gazans, underscoring the need for increased aid.
- An off-duty staff member of the World Central Kitchen charity was severely injured in an Israeli airstrike, adding to the humanitarian toll in Gaza.
- Israel plans to open a new aid entry point into northern Gaza, aiming to improve the dire humanitarian situation, as announced by Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
- Despite a halt in shipborne deliveries, Cyprus continues to receive humanitarian aid for Gaza, with plans to resume shipments once security protocols are revised.
The Associated Press has the story:
USAID Chief Samantha Power: ‘Credible’ reports of Famine in N. Gaza
Newslooks- WASHINGTON —
USAID administrator Samantha Power said she accepted “credible” reports that famine was now occurring in northern Gaza and urged Israel to take further steps to surge humanitarian aid shipments. Power told lawmakers that short of famine, civilians in all parts of Gaza, particularly children, are suffering from extreme malnutrition.
Her comments, in reply to a lawmaker’s question, did not include using the word “famine” but she responded affirmatively when asked whether she believes famine had begun in the north.
Power is not the first senior U.S. official to describe the hunger and malnutrition situation in Gaza. Last week in Brussels, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said all Gazans were suffering from acute food insecurity.
“Despite important steps that Israel has taken to allow assistance into Gaza, the results on the ground are woefully insufficient and unacceptable,” he told reporters at a news conference at NATO headquarters.
“A hundred percent of the population in Gaza knows acute levels of food insecurity. A hundred percent of the population is in need of humanitarian assistance,” he said.
FOOD AID CHARITY SAYS ISRAELI STRIKE WOUNDED PALESTINIAN STAFFER ON SAME DAY AS DEADLY CONVOY ATTACKS
JERUSALEM — A off-duty Palestinian staff member with the food aid charity World Central Kitchen was badly wounded by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza on April 1, the same day seven other staffers were killed in a separate Israeli attack.
The staffer, identified only as Amro, was pulled from the rubble of a residence after an Israeli strike hit a nearby mosque, in the vicinity of a WCK warehouse and kitchen, the charity said Wednesday. He spent time in a coma, and WCK said is still recovering in a hospital from head and hand injuries.
Amro had joined WCK at the start of the year, the charity said in a statement, and before the war had owned a sweet shop that was destroyed by Israeli bombardments.
The statement said Amro turned down chances to leave Gaza several times: “He always says, ‘I am here serving people hot food every day. I will not leave my job and let them suffer.’”
On April 1, Israeli airstrikes on an aid convoy killed seven WCK workers — six foreigners and one Palestinian. Israel says the deaths were a tragic error. WCK laid the blame squarely on Israel’s military, saying the army had coordinated over the movement of the cars carrying the workers as they left northern Gaza.
Nearly every day, strikes level buildings with Palestinian families inside, killing men, women and children, with no explanation of the target or independent accountability over the proportionality of the strike. Israel blames the large number of civilian casualties on militants, saying they operate among the population.
ISRAEL PLANS TO OPEN A NEW ENTRY POINT FOR AID INTO NORTHERN GAZA INSTEAD OF THE DAMAGED EREZ CROSSING
TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel will soon open a new crossing to deliver humanitarian aid into the hard-hit northern Gaza Strip, Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said.
Gallant’s announcement comes at a time of heavy U.S. pressure to increase the flow of desperately needed aid into Gaza. Earlier Wednesday, U.S. President Joe Biden said Israel’s efforts are still “not enough.”
Israeli officials say the new crossing will be built instead of using the damaged Erez crossing, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged last week to open. Erez was destroyed by Hamas militants during their Oct. 7 attack and was designed for pedestrians, not cargo, according to COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of Palestinian civilian affairs.
An official from COGAT said the new crossing would be close to the beachfront on Gaza’s northern tip. It was not clear exactly when the crossing will be opened. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
At a briefing with reporters, Gallant said Israel plans a number of additional steps to improve the humanitarian situation – including using its port in the southern Israeli city of Ashdod to accept aid shipments for the Palestinians. It was not clear when the port would open.
He also says Israel will allow Jordan to deliver more aid to Gaza, and that Israel is working with the U.S. on infrastructure projects such as new water lines.
Israel faces pressure from the U.S. to increase aid into Gaza, where its offensive has wreaked an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe. Aid groups say supplies are not reaching people quickly enough, blaming Israeli restrictions and noting that thousands of trucks are waiting to enter Gaza.
CYPRUS FM SAYS HUMANITARIAN AID FOR GAZA STILL ARRIVING DESPITE HALT IN SHIPBORNE DELIVERIES
NICOSIA, Cyprus — Cyprus’ foreign minister says additional quantities of humanitarian aid continue to arrive in the east Mediterranean island nation for eventual transfer by ship to Gaza. That’s despite the suspension of shipborne aid deliveries to the Palestinian territory.
Constantinos Kombos told reporters Thursday that Cypriot authorities in cooperation with U.S. military officials continue preparations for a resumption of aid shipments. They will resume once the sea corridor to Gaza is reactivated after a U.S.-built floating dock designed to receive 1,500 tons or more of aid weekly is completed around May 1.
He said shipments will resume once security protocols are revised in the Palestinian territory to ensure the safe distribution of aid in the wake of the April 1 Israeli airstrikes that killed seven workers with U.S. charity World Central Kitchen.
Once that happens, Kombos said he doesn’t exclude the possibility that some shipments could reach Gaza through the WCK-built pier, where more than 300 tons of aid have already been offloaded.
Israel says the deaths were a tragic error but WCK laid the blame squarely on Israel’s military. The charity said the Israeli army had coordinated over the movement of the cars carrying the workers as they left northern Gaza.
