Gaza: Another Palestinian child dies of malnutrition as Hamas slams Israel's 'aid pause'

Medical sources in the Gaza Strip announced on Monday the death of another Palestinian child due to malnutrition amid the ongoing hunger crisis sweeping through the war-battered enclave.

The Al-Shifa Hospital confirmed the death of Muhammad Ibrahim Adas on Monday morning, making him the 88th Palestinian child to die due to the starvation crisis plaguing the Gaza Strip, triggered by Israel’s total siege of the territory.

Images of the emaciated toddler have haunted social media and news websites; another child, six-year-old Malik Nidal Saad, is at risk of losing his life due to severe malnutrition and weight loss. 

At least 147 Palestinians across all ages and genders have died due to the severe lack of food, baby formula, and rising malnutrition cases in Gaza.

On Sunday, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that malnutrition levels are reaching "alarming levels" in the Gaza Strip, stressing that the "deliberate blocking" of aid was entirely preventable and had cost many lives.

"Malnutrition is on a dangerous trajectory in the Gaza Strip, marked by a spike in deaths in July," the WHO said in a statement. Deaths caused by malnutrition have come mostly this month, as a direct consequence of the Israeli blockade on the Strip.

"The crisis remains entirely preventable. Deliberate blocking and delay of large-scale food, health, and humanitarian aid has cost many lives."

Tom Fletcher, the UN’s Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, said one in three people haven’t eaten for "days" and are "wasting away" amid the crisis.

Israel imposed a total siege on the Gaza Strip in March, halting the entry of much-needed humanitarian relief into the enclave. Aid has only been distributed through the controversial US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which has been slammed as a "death trap" as Israeli fire has killed more than 1,000 Palestinians at GHF sites.

On Sunday, amid international condemnation over starvation in Gaza, Israel implemented a 10-hour military pause to allow the entry of UN trucks and other agencies to tackle the hunger crisis.

Hamas has slammed this as a "farce", saying that the aid that has managed to enter the enclave is insufficient, with many of those trucks looted under "the watchful eye of the Israeli occupation and its drones" amid "its clear desire to prevent them from reaching distribution warehouses, as part of a policy of engineering chaos and starvation".

Gaza’s government office took swipes at the international community for "colluding against the starving people of the Gaza Strip, through false promises or misleading information issued by major countries such as the United States".

"The only radical solution lies in urgently and unconditionally opening the crossings, breaking the unjust siege, and allowing the immediate entry of food and baby formula before it is too late. The world faces a historic responsibility."

Several Palestinians have echoed Hamas’ remarks, saying that despite the entry of trucks and air drops from the UAE and Jordan, many haven't received anything.

Khalil al-Hayya, deputy head of Hamas’s political bureau in Gaza, also said that there is "no justification" in continuing ceasefire negotiations with Israel as starvation and genocide against the Palestinian people continue to take place.

France, Saudi Arabia to kickstart two-state solution conference in New York

On Monday, France and Saudi Arabia are expected to co-chair a UN conference in New York reviving two-state solution talks between Palestine and Israel.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Paris will use the talks to urge more countries to recognise a Palestinian state.

President Emmanuel Macron announced late last week that Paris will formally acknowledge a Palestinian state in September, in a move welcomed by the Arab world and Turkey.

In an interview on Sunday with La Tribune, Barrot said: "We will launch an appeal in New York so that other countries join us to initiate an even more ambitious and demanding dynamic that will culminate on 21 September."

The top diplomat said, however, that he expects Arab nations to "condemn Hamas and demand their disarmament" during the conference.

Israel and its biggest ally, the US, will reportedly boycott the talks, due to end on Wednesday, according to a US State Department spokesperson.

A spokesperson for Israel’s UN mission said the talks "don’t first urgently address the issue of condemning Hamas and returning all of the remaining hostage".

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