International humanitarian organization ActionAid says severe food shortages have pushed thousands of Palestinians to the brink of starvation as Israel continues to use Israel’s siege on the coastal strip.
In a statement released on Saturday, the organization said while many families rely on community kitchens as their last hope for a single meal each day, Israel has forced several of these kitchens to shut down.
"The hunger and malnutrition in northern Gaza are escalating rapidly, and the threshold for famine has already been surpassed. Despite this, aid has been minimal and limited in reaching the region.”
"As hunger continues to be used as a weapon of war in Gaza, it is becoming increasingly difficult for people to get enough food to stay alive,” said Riham Jafri, Communications and Advocacy Officer at the aid organization.
ActionAid said food supplies have been cut off for nearly 75,000 people in northern Gaza for over 70 days.
"With no safe place to go, people are faced with a tragic choice: either die from hunger or risk being killed or injured while waiting in food queues.”
According to the group, doctors and patients at Al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza are surviving on just one meal per day.
“The world cannot continue to watch in silence as the people of Gaza wither away.”
Israel has been using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare in the Gaza Strip, which human rights organizations say is a war crime.