NEW YORK, May 14. /TASS/. Israeli military officers who monitor humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip have warned their commanders that the continued blockade of the embattled enclave will lead to a severe lack of food products, sources in Israel told the New York Times (NYT).
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, "the officers said that immediate steps were needed to ensure that the system to supply aid could be reinstated fast enough to prevent starvation." "It takes time to scale up humanitarian deliveries," they explained.
According to the newspaper, "Palestinians in Gaza face widespread starvation unless aid deliveries are restored within weeks."
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification initiative (IPC) has asserted that about 1.95 million Gazans experience food shortages while 133,000 people are starving. IPC experts insist that "with the announced expansion of military operations throughout the Gaza Strip, the persistent inability of humanitarian agencies to access populations in dire need, an anticipated escalation in hostilities, and the continued mass displacement of people, the risk of Famine in the Gaza Strip is not just possible- It is increasingly likely."
On March 18, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) resumed fighting in the Gaza Strip, launching massive strikes on the enclave and thus breaking the ceasefire established in January. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office stated that Israel had restarted military operations in the enclave after the Gaza-based Palestinian movement Hamas rejected the US proposals put forward by mediators and US Special Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff. The office claimed that the Israeli military had resumed strikes on Hamas targets in Gaza to advance the release of hostages and that the army would intensify its campaign in the enclave. The Gaza-based movement has blamed the United States for the renewal of Israeli aggression.