Death toll in Gaza exceeds 45,000 as famine looms in north

By Thaddeus Jones

The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, has reported that overnight, on 16 December, 13 people died and 48 were injured during an air strike that came with no warning. A number of children were among the victims. Humanitarian agencies have condemned the latest deadly airstrikes across the war-torn Gaza Strip, including on a UN school-turned-shelter. The UN reports that some of the victims had been forcibly displaced seven or eight times, ending up in this UNRWA school that was bombed, adding that the situation "just feels very hopeless.”

Gaza death toll rises unabated

The latest violence came as the head of the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell, stated more than 14,500 youngsters have been reportedly killed in Gaza with many thousands more believed to be buried under the rubble. She also sounded the alarm on famine that “continues to loom in the north” while humanitarian access remains “severely restricted.” 

The grim developments came as authorities in Gaza reported that more than 45,000 people have been killed in the enclave in the last 14 months. 

Catherine Russell stated on social media that “virtually all 1.1 million children in Gaza are in urgent need of protection and mental health support,” as Israeli military strikes over the past 24 hours left at least 69 Palestinians dead, from Beit Lahia in the north to Rafah in the south.

Desperate need for blocked food aid

The Head of Emergency Communications for the World Food Programme (WFP), Jonathan Dumont, told UN News in an interview that "civilians are desperate for lifesaving aid and there’s a growing risk of widespread famine." He described the level of devastation across the Gaza Strip as “absolutely staggering”, and said many people have been displaced multiple times.  Families, he added, are living either in tents or in the rubble of collapsed buildings, with no access to electricity or running water.

Dumont warned, “there’s no electricity or running water or sewage (treatment). Almost everyone has lost their home. A lot of people are living in tents. We have hot meals, distributions…People are really desperate. You can see it in their faces and you can see it in their eyes. To prevent famine we need to find a way to get a consistent flow of food in.”

In the absence of a ceasefire, he concluded, every and any effort must be made "to find a way of getting all the food that we have outside Gaza in.”