A British aid charity has described the deepening humanitarian emergency in Gaza as close to collapse.
The assessment by Humanity & Inclusion comes as pressure on Israel and Hamas to end the suffering of innocents intensifies.
The world has been left in shock at the size and scale of hunger and famine affecting not only the imprisoned population of 2.1 million people but aid workers trying to help them.
Amid claims the crisis had been manufactured to hoodwink the outside world Sharaf Al Faqawi, Humanity & Inclusion’s Area Manager for Gaza, told the Daily Express of the desperation of those who are locked in a living hell.
In a heartbreaking dispatch he said: “Hunger and starvation are affecting everyone, every individual and every family. It is a crisis that is impacting children and adults. In the best case, people can have one meal per day, while most haven’t for several days.”
He added: “Humanity & Inclusion is providing emergency rehabilitation services (and) our teams are moving across the sites for internally displaced people and shelters, starting their long day with an empty stomach until they return home if they have a home or food.
“For the staff working in centres, such as our prosthetics and orthotics workshop, challenges are immense. Our team is carrying out physically demanding activities including benchwork that requires energy and strength. Despite their dedication, they are facing fatigue and exhaustion, we can notice how much our staff have lost weight.
“Regarding the people we support, the situation is heartbreaking. Our beneficiaries are coming to the centre weak, tired, dizzy and visibly malnourished. We used to provide some nourishing food in previous months, but now we have nothing to offer.”
International condemnation has been directed at Israel for refusing to allow enough aid to reach a starving population, a charge it has rejected.
After global revulsion at the impact its ongoing war with Hamas was having on those trapped in the enclave, Israel said it would embark on a “one-week scale-up of aid”. It said it would establish secure routes to help the UN and aid agencies deliver food and other supplies, while aid airdrops have also resumed.
The UN welcomed Israel’s decision but warned more action is needed to “stave off famine and a catastrophic health crisis”.
The Hamas-run Ministry of Health claims 133 people, including 87 children, have died due to malnutrition and starvation since October 2023. Of those 87 children, at least seven have died in the last five days.”
Sharaf said: “One young woman who was receiving prosthetics and orthotics services reported a headache, dizziness, feeling of imbalance during the session, so the team had to stop the service delivery and searched their pockets and everywhere for food to support her but they found nothing.
“Another case involved a 43-year-old man with an above-knee amputation. After 20 minutes of the physiotherapy session he began sweating heavily and struggling to breathe. We found out that he hadn’t eaten all day and could not continue the session. The people we are supporting are now forced to take hard decisions, either to try and look for one kilo of flour or to go and attend a rehabilitation session to have a leg to walk.
“We call for quick and concrete action by the international community to stop the collapse of the humanitarian system and to ensure rapid and unrestricted entry of lifesaving supplies.”
Meanwhile, Save the Children has warned that only a permanent and unconditional ceasefire would be able to save lives.
Ahmad Alhendawi, the charity’s Regional Director for the Middle East, Eastern Europe and North Africa, said: “Any increase in the entry of aid via land crossings has the potential to help people survive, primarily children, thousands of whom are otherwise facing their final days after nearly five months of total siege on the entry of all assistance.
“But just how life-saving these pauses will be depends on how long they continue and the extent to which Israeli authorities facilitate safe and logistically feasible conditions for the delivery of assistance to starving children and families.
“The stage of malnutrition and starvation many people across Gaza are facing means one or even a few days of food aid will not be enough to bring them back from the brink of death.
“Malnutrition can be prevented, malnutrition can be treated – and we know how to do it. Malnourished people, especially children, need sustained access to diverse food, nutrition supplements, and sometimes specialist medical care, to reverse the damage that can be undone.”