At least one million women and girls in the besieged Palestinian territory of Gaza are facing acute hunger due to Israel's long-term blockade and devastating attacks.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has warned. This information was reported in a report on Saturday (August 16), the Anadolu news agency reported.
In a statement on Saturday, the agency said, "Women and girls in Gaza are facing mass starvation, violence and torture. They are being forced to resort to increasingly dangerous tactics to save their lives - such as going outside to find food and water in places where they are most at risk of being shot or killed."
UNRWA also called for the lifting of the blockade on Gaza and the delivery of large-scale humanitarian aid.
Anadolu says that Gaza is currently facing the worst humanitarian crisis in history. Famine has been added to the devastation of the war. Israel has closed all borders to Gaza since March 2 of this year. Thousands of aid trucks are stuck at the border, but they are not being allowed to enter. The limited supplies that are being allowed in fall far short of the needs of millions of hungry people.
Earlier this month, the UN World Food Programme warned that a third of Gaza’s 2.4 million people have not had any food for days.
Since the war began in October 2023, nearly 61,900 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks. The attacks have reduced Gaza to rubble and pushed the population to the brink of famine.
In November last year, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Galant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel is also facing trial at the International Court of Justice for genocide in Gaza.
