UN warns of Gaza famine risk

AFP | Gaza

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The UN warned yesterday that the entire population of Gaza is at risk of famine, as Israel vowed to build a “Jewish Israeli state” in the occupied West Bank.

Israel has faced mounting international pressure over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where the UN says only a trickle of aid has been allowed in after a more than two-month blockade.

Negotiations to end nearly 20 months of war in Gaza have so far failed to achieve a breakthrough, with Israel resum-ing operations in March following a short-lived truce.

Israel has meanwhile doubled down on its settlement expansion in the West Bank, while defying calls from French President Emmanuel Macron and other world leaders for a two-state solution.

Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the UN humanitarian agency OCHA, yesterday called Gaza “the hungriest place on earth”.

“It’s the only defined area -- a country or defined territory within a country -- where you have the entire population at risk of famine. One hundred percent of the population at risk of famine,” he said.

Recent AFPTV footage has shown chaotic scenes as large crowds of Palestinians desperate for food rushed to a limited number of aid distribution centres to pick up supplies.

Israel recently intensified its Gaza offensive in what it says is a renewed push to destroy Hamas, drawing sharp inter-national criticism, including from allies such as Britain and Germany.

‘Crusade’ against Israel

This week Israel announced the creation of 22 new settlements in the West Bank.

London called the move a “deliberate obstacle” to Palestinian statehood, and UN chief Antonio Guterres’ spokesman said it pushed efforts towards a two-state solution “in the wrong direction”.

Yesterday, Defence Minister Israel Katz vowed to build a “Jewish Israeli state” in the Palestinian territory which Israel has occupied since 1967.

“This is a decisive response to the terrorist organisations that are trying to harm and weaken our hold on this land,” Katz said in a video published by his office.

Israeli settlements in the West Bank -- considered illegal under international law -- are seen as a major obstacle to a lasting peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Katz framed the move as a direct rebuke to Macron and others pushing for recognition of a Palestinian state.

Macron has recently stepped up his statements in support of the Palestinians, asserting yesterday that recognition of a Palestinian state, with some conditions, was “not only a moral duty, but a political necessity”. Macron confirmed he would personally attend a conference France is co-hosting with Saudi Arabia at the UN in June aimed at reviving the two-state solution.

Israel yesterday accused the French president of undertaking a “crusade against the Jewish state”. The foreign ministry said that “instead of applying pressure on the jihadist terrorists, Macron wants to reward them with a Palestinian state”.

‘Go in with full force’

Negotiations aimed at halting the fighting in Gaza have continued, meanwhile, with the White House announcing Thursday that Israel had “signed off” on a new ceasefire proposal submitted to Hamas.

The Palestinian militant group, however, said the deal failed to satisfy its demands, stopping short of rejecting it out-right.