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- The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a global hunger monitoring system, has warned that the “worst-case scenario of famine” is now unfolding in Gaza, as Israel continues to severely restrict aid entering the territory.
- Gaza’s Health Ministry says more than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s war on the Strip, as medical sources say Israeli forces killed at least 62 people across Gaza since dawn on Tuesday, including 19 aid seekers, despite “pauses” in fighting to deliver essential aid.
Israeli army says it airdropped 52 aid packages into Gaza, denies starving civilians
The Israeli army says it airdropped dozens of aid boxes in Gaza to “improve the humanitarian response” in the Strip while denying it is intentionally starving civilians there.
“In recent hours, 52 aid packages, including food, were airdropped to residents of the southern and northern Gaza Strip,” the military said in a statement.
Israeli forces “will continue to work to improve the humanitarian response in the Gaza Strip, in cooperation with the international community, while denying the false claims of intentional starvation in Gaza,” it added.
This comes amid mounting criticism against Israel’s near-total blockade of aid into the enclave as images of emaciated Palestinian children have been grabbing international attention in the past weeks. Earlier today, the leading global hunger monitor said the “worst-case scenario of famine” is currently unfolding in Gaza.
Dutch ambassador summoned in Israel
The Israeli Broadcasting Authority reports that the Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has summoned the Dutch ambassador to Israel for a reprimand.
This comes after Dutch media reported that two far-right Israeli ministers, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, were declared persona non grata in the Netherlands for inciting settler violence and calling for ethnic cleansing in Gaza.
Greeks protest against arrival of Israeli cruise ship in Crete
People have gathered at the port of Agios Nikolaos in Crete to protest against the arrival of an Israeli cruise ship carrying some 1,500 passengers from Israel, the latest such protest to take place in recent days on a Greek island.
Footage from the scene showed protesters waving Palestinian flags and carrying banners calling for “an end to the genocide”.
Greek media reported that police used tear gas against the demonstrators and carried out a number of detentions as tensions flared up.
Similar pro-Palestinian protests have occurred in recent days on other islands, including Syros and Rhodes.
