Israel Palestinian relief organization calls for "flood" of Gaza aid
UN organizations welcome the resumption of large-scale aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip, but these are far from sufficient.
28.07.2025, 05:04
SDA
A "flood" of aid is needed to prevent a worsening of the hunger crisis among the population in the sealed-off coastal strip, explained the UN Palestinian Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) on Platform X and called for the opening of all border crossings into the war zone.
The World Health Organization (WHO) warned that malnutrition among the approximately two million inhabitants was reaching "alarming proportions". Meanwhile, Israel's army continued its attacks during the night, according to eyewitnesses and rescue workers. At least 12 people were killed and 20 others injured in an airstrike on a residential building west of Chan Junis in the south of the coastal area, according to reports. This could not be independently verified at first. The Israeli army has not yet provided any details.
Israel's military had announced the night before that it would observe a self-declared humanitarian ceasefire every day between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. local time in areas where the armed forces were not currently deployed, until further notice. It applies in Al-Mawasi in the southwest, in Deir al-Balah in the center and in the city of Gaza in the north of the area. Apart from that, however, the fighting against the Islamist Hamas will continue, according to the statement.
Trump finds the situation in the Gaza Strip "terrible"
US President Donald Trump described the situation in the war zone as "terrible". It is "a mess. This whole place is a mess." Trump held out the prospect of the USA providing more aid, but did not give any details. He emphasized that the USA would also like other countries to get involved. The World Food Program (WFP) declared on X that it has enough food in the region or on the way there to ensure the supply of the entire population of the Gaza Strip for three months. "Now is the time to act," WFP Director Cindy McCain wrote on X.
The Israeli military had announced that, in addition to the daily ceasefires, corridors would be set up from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. local time to allow the safe passage of UN and other aid convoys. On Sunday, a convoy of around 100 trucks carrying aid supplies entered the Gaza Strip. UN emergency relief chief Tom Fletcher spoke on X of "progress". However, large quantities of additional aid would be needed to avert a famine and a catastrophic health crisis in the Gaza Strip. According to UNRWA, at least 500 to 600 trucks are needed. And that every day.
WHO: Malnutrition is reaching "alarming proportions"
According to the WHO, there was a significant increase in malnutrition-related deaths in the sealed-off coastal area in July. The situation in the city of Gaza in the north of the region is particularly worrying. There, one in five children under the age of five is acutely malnourished. The situation in Chan Junis in the south is also devastating.
"The crisis remains completely preventable. The deliberate blockade and delay of food, health and humanitarian aid on a large scale has cost many lives," lamented the WHO. Israel had largely blocked independent aid deliveries to Gaza for months and is therefore subject to massive international criticism. The fact that Israel's military has now announced steps to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip has met with criticism within its own government.
The far-right minister Itamar Ben-Gvir described the move on X as a slap in the face for Israeli soldiers fighting against the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The delivery of humanitarian aid was tantamount to "keeping the enemy alive", wrote Ben-Gvir. He addressed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directly and called for a halt to the latest aid deliveries. Ben-Gvir is an advocate of the idea of completely capturing the Gaza Strip and expelling the Palestinian population.
Paris: Arab countries will condemn Hamas
At an international conference on the two-state solution starting today in New York, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot expects Arab states to condemn Hamas for the first time. This will seal the final isolation of the Islamist organization, Barrot told the French newspaper "La Tribune". Hamas seized de facto power in the Gaza Strip in 2007. Following the attack on Israel by Hamas and other terrorist groups and the massacre of civilians on October 7, 2023, Israel's army began deploying in Gaza to crush Hamas.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Thursday that his country - as the first state in the G7 - would recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September. At the two-day conference in New York, which begins today, "an appeal will be launched to persuade other countries to join us", said Barrot. Half of the European countries have already done so.
Great Britain and Germany did not initially follow Macron's lead. Israel's government strictly rejects it. It sees it as a "reward" for Hamas' terror. According to them, a large proportion of Palestinians support Hamas - and therefore do not "deserve" their own state.
