Gaza has become a death zone: WHO

Gaza [Palestine], February 22: World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said that the humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to spiral out of control.
"The health and humanitarian situation in Gaza is inhumane and continues to deteriorate," Ghebreyesus told reporters, adding that "on a broader level, Gaza has become a death zone." Famine is deepening in the Gaza Strip, and more than 700,000 Palestinians in the central and northern Gaza Strip face death by starvation, the Palestinian enclave's government media office said on Tuesday.
The office said on Telegram that "the famine in areas of the Gaza Strip, where 2.4 million people live, is worsening day after day." "The issue is particularly acute in the Gaza and North Gaza governorates, which portends the occurrence of a global humanitarian catastrophe that could result in the death of a large number of people - 700,000 Palestinian citizens who still live in the said two areas," the office said.
The office, on behalf of the Palestinian enclave's authorities, also demanded that Israel and the international community "lift the siege of the Gaza Strip" and allow "the arrival of 10,000 trucks loaded with humanitarian aid over the next two days, before a humanitarian catastrophe occurs," the message said.
Ismail al-Thawabteh, the head of Gaza's government media office, says that residents of the northern Gaza Strip have been eating animal feed for three consecutive weeks. He warned of a humanitarian catastrophe affecting hundreds of thousands of Palestinians if the world fails to force Israel to allow humanitarian aid into the besieged coastal enclave.
Gaza is witnessing the 'total collapse of civil order', UN special rapporteur has said.
Francesca Albanese said, "That's the situation that Israel has created in Gaza", in reference to the World Food Programme pausing food deliveries to northern Gaza.
The UN agency has said the decision was not taken lightly as staff faced huge, hungry crowds, gunfire and looting. "Imagine as a parent having to fight to get food for your child who is dying of hunger . Shame on all of us for allowing this betrayal of humanity," Albanese said.
Meanwhile, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) is warning of the dire situation at al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis "due to the ongoing siege and targeting by the Israeli occupation for the 30th consecutive day".
The PRCS says it is, once again, calling on the international community to take immediate action to protect the hospital and "to lift the imposed siege before it is too late and the hospital is forced out of service".
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) said it is "disappointed at the US veto of another resolution" on Tuesday.
"Whilst the US is negotiating a separate resolution text that calls for a temporary ceasefire "as soon as is practicable", the IRC reiterates the need for an immediate and sustained ceasefire that protects the civilian population, allows unhindered access for humanitarian organizations, and facilitates the release of all hostages," it said in a statement.
"The looming threat of an Israeli ground attack in Rafah and the dwindling of aid entering through the border with Egypt, mean that the humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate day by day. People have a right to humanitarian assistance that protects life, health and dignity."
The move on Tuesday was the third US veto of a UNSC resolution demanding a ceasefire in Gaza, and came a day after Washington circulated a resolution that would support a temporary ceasefire linked to the release of all Israeli captives from the Palestinian enclave.
The 57-country Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has expressed regret over the failure of the UN Security Council to adopt a draft resolution proposed by Algeria "to end the brutal Israeli aggression in the Gaza Strip".
The second largest intergovernmental body after the UN also said in a statement published on its website that it "regretted deeply" the US veto against the proposed resolution on Tuesday.
Source: Qatar Tribune