Name: Gaza mass starvation warning | BBC News
Uploaded: 2025-05-03T00:07:22.000Z
Duration: 6 min 40 s
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Two months after Israel closed all crossings to the Gaza Strip, there are warnings that mass starvation could be imminent.

The UN's World Food Programme and UNRWA, the Agency for Palestinian Refugees, say they've used up all their food stocks and there's little left to buy.

A few dozen remaining food kitchens are the only source of a daily meal for hundreds of thousands of people.

Let's speak to our Middle East correspondent Yolande Nell.

That's right, and what we've seen in the past day or so are more powerful statements coming from top UN officials about this blockade that has gone on now for two months in Gaza.

You had the emergency director of the World Health Organisation saying that what was unfolding was an abomination.

He said if we don't do something about it, we're complicit in what is happening.

And then you had the UN's humanitarian chief saying this was a cruel and collective punishment of Palestinians and he said that quite simply blocking aid kills.

Now Israel has previously denied that there is a hunger crisis in Gaza and it's just not clear at the moment when aid will be allowed back in.

A hot meal is hard to come by in Gaza, but for needy families in the south, a delivery is on its way.

Today's dish is koshary, made with lentils, rice and a tomato sauce, cooked in a community kitchen by American Near East Refugee Aid.

Sami Muttar says his team is doing the best it can in desperate circumstances.

In the past we used to cook rice with meat, with protein.

Now there is no any type of meat or vegetables also entered Gaza.

Israel blocked all goods to Gaza two months ago and then resumed its military offensive, saying this was to pressure Hamas into releasing hostages.

Food stockpiled during the ceasefire at the start of this year has all but run out.

We used to receive more than 100 trucks every week and now we don't have anything in our warehouse.

Within two weeks Gaza's community kitchens, a last lifeline for so many, will have to shut down.

If the situation will continue with the closure of the crossings, Gaza will face again the risk of starvation.

Al-Mawasi is a sprawling tent camp for displaced people.

Conditions here are tough and getting tougher.

This man's been searching unsuccessfully for bread.

Others are also thankful for the handouts.

At this time it's excellent because there is no cooking gas, no food.

I collect leaves to start a fire just so we can have a cup of tea.

Israel has accused Hamas of stealing aid.

But humanitarian workers say they closely monitor their supplies.

With rising cases of acute malnutrition among children, there are warnings that starving civilians as a method of warfare is a war crime.

For now in Gaza, as the cooking pots are washed up, there's no choice but to live day by day, hoping that tomorrow will finally bring relief.

And today aid officials and Palestinian residents in Gaza have been talking about how there is no hope.

They were at the UN's main complex for UNRWA in Gaza, also at some businessmen's stores and in community kitchens as well.

And UNRWA has said that there were thousands of displaced people who were involved in the raid on its premises and that medicines were stolen from its pharmacy.

And the UNRWA spokeswoman has said that this, while devastating, is not surprising in the face of total systemic collapse.

Yolanda, what signs are there, if any, that international pressure is having any effect on Israel to lift the blockade?

I mean, it's notable that some of Israel's closest allies have spoken out about this.

We had a statement that was from its closest European allies, the UK, Germany and France, really demanding that the blockade stop and talking about the acute risk of starvation for children.

We had also President Trump one week ago so supportive of Israel, telling journalists that he had told Israel's prime minister that Israel has got to be good to Gaza, it's got to allow food and medicines in.

But we have not seen any change in Israeli policy.

In fact, from those particularly on the far right in Israel's government, there is strong support for the continuation of this policy to put pressure on Hamas, they say, to bring back the hostages.

How widely felt is that support amongst the Israeli public?

I mean, you start to see now a very mixed response among the Israeli public, where certainly in recent polls we saw a lot of support for a ceasefire that would prioritise bringing back the remaining hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

It's thought that up to 24 of those are still alive.

And, you know, the reason Israel has said that it's holding off from ending the war in accordance with what Hamas has been demanding, it says its military goal is to dismantle Hamas in terms of its military and governing capabilities to remove it as a threat to Israel.

Yolande, for the moment, thank you very much, Yolande Nell in Jerusalem.