Head of the World Food Program: Gaza is at breaking point

"Gaza is at breaking point," warned WFP Director Cindy McCain on Platform X. Half a million people in the coastal area, which has been sealed off by Israel and extensively destroyed, are starving.

McCain also spoke about this with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Both had agreed to "redouble efforts to accelerate and maintain the flow of humanitarian goods to Gaza in light of the acute emergency on the ground", the Prime Minister's Office announced afterwards.

"We need to get our network of more than 200 food distribution points, community kitchens and bakeries back up and running as soon as possible," McCain wrote on X. "We need safe routes and permanent access. We need to deliver on the scale that this crisis requires," she said in a video clip from Deir al-Balah in the center of the Gaza Strip.

Aid workers are calling on Israel to revert from the current aid distribution system via the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) to the well-established mechanism of the UN and other aid organizations.

Israel sticks to controversial foundation

However, Israel remains committed to the GHF, which is also supported by its ally, the USA. The Israeli army has announced two new distribution points in the southern part of the sealed-off coastal area. They are to be completed in the coming days and operated by the GHF. The existing distribution center in Tel al-Sultan near the city of Rafah on the border with Egypt will be closed, it was said. There would then be five centers in Gaza.

The GHF began its operation in May after Israel ended its almost three-month-long blockade of aid deliveries following international pressure. Israel introduced the GHF's new distribution mechanism in order to bypass UN aid organizations and other initiatives. According to Netanyahu's government, this is intended to prevent the Islamist terrorist organization Hamas from diverting humanitarian aid to itself.

The United Nations criticizes the use of the GHF because, among other things, the distribution in the centers endangers people in particular, some of whom have to walk for miles through war zones on the way there and back. There are repeated reports of fatal incidents near these distribution points.

Netanyahu: Report on famine in Gaza "outright lie"

"Families in Gaza are starving", McCain reported from her visit to Deir al-Balah. The desperation among the people is "overwhelming", she said, having seen it with her own eyes on the ground.

A few days earlier, the IPC initiative, recognized worldwide as an authority on food security, had declared a famine for the city of Gaza in the north and some neighboring towns. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu described the report as an "outright lie". According to Israel, the IPC assessment is based on false information provided by Hamas. Netanyahu's government called on the authors of the report to withdraw it immediately.

McCain and Netanyahu had spoken in Jerusalem about the importance of "protecting civilians from hunger and malnutrition and ensuring that their basic needs are met", according to a statement from the Prime Minister's Office. At their meeting, the increase in humanitarian aid to Gaza last month was addressed and it was agreed "that every effort must be made to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches the most vulnerable people where they are, and that aid goes exclusively to the civilian population".

UN chief calls for Gaza city not to be taken

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on Israel to call off the announced capture of the city of Gaza in the north of the coastal strip. "Hundreds of thousands of civilians would once again be forced to flee and families would be put in even greater danger. This must stop. There is no military solution to this conflict," wrote Guterres on Platform X. The civilian population in Gaza is facing a "further deadly escalation". The announcement by the Israeli leadership to occupy the city of Gaza heralds a new and dangerous phase, he wrote.

Israel's government is planning to occupy the city of Gaza, which is currently estimated to be home to around one million people. They are to be accommodated in tent camps in the south. On Wednesday, a military spokesperson announced that preparations were underway for the planned relocation of the inhabitants. Arrangements had already been made to set up humanitarian aid centers and tents had been delivered. Aid organizations have repeatedly criticized the catastrophic living conditions in the south of the coastal region - where the people from the city of Gaza are to be relocated.

Guterres: Gaza is littered with rubble and corpses

The extent of death and destruction in Gaza is unprecedented in recent history, Guterres wrote. "Gaza is littered with rubble, corpses and examples of possible serious violations of international law. We need an immediate and lasting ceasefire." The hostages still being held by Islamist terrorists in the Gaza Strip must be released immediately.

Israel has clear obligations as an occupying power, wrote Guterres. "It must ensure the supply of food, water, medicine and other essential goods." In addition, Israel must provide far better access to humanitarian aid.

Israel's government is under considerable international pressure to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Reports of malnourished children have caused worldwide outrage and contributed to countries such as France, Canada and Australia announcing plans to recognize a Palestinian state. Germany halted some of its arms exports to Israel after Netanyahu's government declared that it would extend the war in Gaza.