China branded the Gaza crisis as a “disgrace to civilisation” and called for an urgent ceasefire on Thursday, as the conflict entered its sixth month despite efforts by mediators to negotiate an agreement.
US President Joe Biden has urged Hamas to accept a cease-fire agreement with Israel before the Muslim fasting month begins, which may start as early as Sunday depending on the sighting of the crescent moon.
However, Egyptian mediators have struggled to overcome difficult obstacles in their attempts to negotiate a truce, and the United Nations has warned that starvation is imminent for Palestinians besieged in the battle.
“It is a tragedy for humanity and a disgrace for civilization that this humanitarian disaster cannot be stopped today, in the twenty-first century,” said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during a press conference in Beijing.
China, which has historically supported the Palestinian cause, has been advocating for a truce since the war began on October 7 when Hamas militants assaulted Israel.
“The international community must act urgently, making an immediate ceasefire and the cessation of hostilities an overriding priority, and ensuring humanitarian relief an urgent moral responsibility,” Wang said in a statement.
The battle has turned broad swaths of Gaza into a wasteland of burnt buildings and rubble, causing a humanitarian calamity for its 2.4 million residents.
‘Catastrophic’ hunger levels
According to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, 20 individuals have died as a result of starvation and dehydration, with at least half being children.
Only limited help has reached northern Gaza, where the UN World Food Programme has warned that hunger has reached “catastrophic levels” due to inadequate aid.
“Children are dying of hunger-related diseases and suffering severe levels of malnutrition,” according to the World Food Program (WFP).
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, one of the most recent victims was a 15-year-old girl who died at Gaza City’s Al-Shifa Hospital.
According to Ashraf al-Qudra, a spokesman for the Health Ministry, “the famine in northern Gaza has reached lethal levels” and might kill hundreds unless Gaza receives additional food and medical supplies.
Gazans lined up outside a UN refugee agency office in the southern city of Rafah, which now houses roughly 1.5 million Palestinians, the majority of whom have been displaced by the conflict.
“The flour they provide is insufficient,” remarked displaced person Muhammad Abu Odeh. “They do not provide us with sugar or anything else except flour.”
Following the withdrawal of Israeli soldiers from the city center, hundreds of civilians rushed to inspect their homes and grab whatever items they could salvage, according to an AFP correspondent.
The army has yet to react to an AFP request to confirm the retreat.
Ramadan tensions
The conflict began after Hamas launched an attack on southern Israel on October 7, killing around 1,160 people, the majority of whom were civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli data.
The extremists also took approximately 250 captives. Israel says 99 of them are still alive in Gaza and 31 have perished.
The Gaza health ministry reports that Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 30,717 individuals, the majority of whom are women and children.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue the battle to destroy Hamas, regardless of whether a truce is reached.
On Tuesday, Biden urged Hamas to accept a truce agreement arranged by US, Qatari, and Egyptian mediators, saying “it’s in the hands of Hamas right now”.
The planned agreement would halt hostilities for “at least six weeks,” free “sick, wounded, elderly, and female hostages,” and allow for “a surge of humanitarian assistance,” according to the White House.
One notable sticking point is Israel’s demand that Hamas give a list of captives still held, which Hamas claims it is unable to do while Israeli bombing continues.
The Palestinian Islamist group stated in a statement that it had “shown the required flexibility with the aim of reaching an agreement,” pressing on an end to the hostilities.
Violence has raged in recent years during Ramadan in annexed east Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque compound, Islam’s third-holiest site and Judaism’s most sacred, also known as the Temple Mount.
Hamas has urged Muslims to go there in large numbers, as they do every year, while some Israeli far-right lawmakers have advocated limits.
Israel has stated that Muslims will be permitted onto the site “in similar numbers” as in previous years, with a weekly “situation assessment” following.
‘Widespread starvation’
Jordanian, US, and other planes have frequently airdropped food into Gaza, but WFP deputy chief Carl Skau stated that “airdrops are a last resort and will not avert famine”.
South Africa petitioned the International Court of Justice on Wednesday to impose additional emergency sanctions against Israel due to what it termed as “widespread starvation” in Gaza.
On Wednesday, British Foreign Minister David Cameron encouraged Israel to expand the flow of aid into Gaza.
Last week, throngs of people surrounded assistance trucks, resulting in over 100 deaths. Gaza officials blamed the deaths on Israeli shooting, although the army claimed most were trampled or run over.
Another truck convoy was diverted by Israeli troops within Gaza late on Tuesday before being stopped by “a large crowd of desperate people who looted the food,” according to the World Food Programme.
Israel, which has recalled its UN representative amid rising tensions, has urged the UN Security Council to “designate Hamas immediately as a terrorist organization” and impose sanctions on it.