…Gazans are now starving.
That shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone here. After all, we talked about the siege at the start of the war, and how important it was to “keep the rockets out.” We are now over 60 days into the siege. Food, water, medical supplies, fuel have all slowed to a trickle. Starvation, disease, infection.
And now…flooding.
From the latest OCHA flash update:
18,205 Palestinians have been killed so far since the 7th October. 70% of whom are said to be women and children. 50,100 injured. Many more still missing, buried under the ruble.
Bombing continues all over Gaza, including the city of Rafah. The deliberate destruction of infrastructure continues, with the blowing up of a UNRWA school through controlled explosives.
The MHO have documented 360,000 cases of infectious diseases in shelters. They believe the actual number to be higher than this. WHO reports that cases of meningitis, jaundice, impetigo, chickenpox and other upper respiratory tract infections have been recorded, in Rafah diarrhoea and influenza have been reported to be spreading, and there are 1500 cases of intestinal disease due to food shortages.
The IDF have taken down another hospital, Kamal Adwan. After three days of siege the IDF raided, arrested the director, and transported 70 medical staff to an unknown location. The remaining staff, patients and carers were ordered into one building and the rest were evacuated where, as of the time of the flash report, were left without electricity, water and food.
Only the bare minimum amount of fuel and gas are being allowed into Gaza to prevent the collapse of critical services.
According to the Palestinian Journalist Syndicate: the death toll of Palestinian journalists and media workers is now 81. 296 medics have been killed, 32 Civil Defense workers, 134 UNRWA staff and 1 WHO staff have all been killed since October 7th.
As of 11 December, almost 1.9 million of the 2.3 million Gazans are estimated to be internally displaced, some have been displaced multiple times. 1.3 million of these people are registered and staying in UNRWA shelters. On average, they are sheltering nine-times their intended capacity.
Only 11 out of 36 hospitals are “partially functional and able to admit new patients, although services are limited.” Hospitals are also providing shelter to thousands of displaced people.
Andy McDonald, a British MP, reports from his meeting with Professor Ghassan Abu Sitta. Selected quotes below:
From the letter from UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini to the UN General Assembly President Mr. Dennis Francis:
Israel started their offensive against Gaza with an illegal siege: they effectively stopped all food, water, medical supplies, fuel from reaching the civilian population. Collective punishment. A war crime.
And 60 days later, that siege continues.
The siege has bought Gaza on, to quote Cindy McCain, to the brink of famine. Disease. Infections. Covid. The putrid stench of rotting flesh fills the air. Hundreds, possibly thousands of bodies still trapped under the rubble.
The situation on the ground, as described by UN officials, is apocalyptic. One toilet for 700 people. Simple everyday things, like menstruation products, are impossible to find. At least 25 women forced to give birth every day in these unsterile conditions. Wounds left to fester. Children having limbs amputated. Every single day. No end in sight.
Nineteen hospitals in Gaza are no longer operational. We can argue till the cars come home about Al Shifa. But that still leaves eighteen other hospitals that were also forced to shut down. And they were all shut down in the same, methodical, systematic way. They were surrounded by the IDF, who laid siege. What few supplies that were making its way through the blockade were shut down. No food. No water. No medical supplies. No fuel. Sometimes they were shot at. Other times they had bombs dropped on them. Then the people sheltering in the hospital, the medical staff and the patients were forced to leave. Then the infrastructure and medical equipment were destroyed by the IDF.
This has been a very deliberate campaign. Schools, shelters, government buildings, churches, Mosques, apartment complexes. They have all been targeted. Universities burned out. The Central Archives were destroyed last week, containing documents dating more than 150 years. Deliberate destruction of civilian infrastructure.
Nowhere in Gaza is safe.
They were told to move south. “Humanitarian corridors” were set up. They knew it was a trap. But many moved south anyway. Because they had no choice.
And now the south is the frontline.
And this is where we are now.