The UN has warned that thousands of babies could die in Gaza, due to Israel’s crippling siege on the enclave with just a trickle of aid reaching inhabitants.
GAZA — Israeli forces on Tuesday killed over 60 Palestinians overnight and into the morning across the Gaza Strip, as the Trump administration reportedly informed Israel it will abandon them if the war on the Palestinian enclave does not come to an end.
Fierce strikes targeted a home and school sheltering displaced people in the north of Gaza, killing at least 22, with most of them women and children, the Palestinian ministry of health reported.
Strikes also targeted the Nuseirat refugee camp and Khan Younis, killing dozens more.
The UN stated over 28,000 women and girls have been killed by Israel since the war started in October 2023, adding that the figures equate to “one woman and one girl on average killed every hour in attacks by Israeli forces”.
The agency, UN Women, highlighted the impact this has left on children and families before calling for an immediate ceasefire.
UN Relief chief Tom Fletcher said he fears 14,000 babies will die in the next 48 hours if the supplies don’t reach them, adding that recent aid trickling into Gaza is just a “drop in the ocean” of what is needed to feed the 2.3 million population.
The increased concerns over conditions in Gaza come as 761 aid groups and NGOs around the world urged Israel to stop the “manufactured famine” in Gaza and demanded an end to the over two-month siege on the enclave.
A staff member working for the charity Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) raised the alarm over the situation, saying: “We are seeing our work being burnt to ashes,”. The organisation’s Gaza director also said: “Our team in Gaza have been working tirelessly to get medical supplies to hospitals, and ensure care for those in desperate need, only to see them obliterated by Israeli military strikes. It’s heartbreaking.”
Netanyahu hits out at criticism
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hit out at recent criticism of his government’s actions, slamming the UK, France, and Canada for demanding an end to the war and threatening sanctions against Israel.
Israel’s far-right National Security Minister, Bezlal Smotrich, joined in lambasting the countries, saying they had “morally aligned themselves with a terrorist organisation that raped, slaughtered, murdered and burned women, babies and children”.
He added that the countries had also sought to “reward terrorism by granting it a state”.
The three nations on Monday published a joint statement, urging Israel to end the war and calling its military operations “disproportionate”.
The statement further read that they could not stand idly in the face of Netanyahu’s government’s “shameful actions” in Gaza, warning they would have to carry out “concrete measures”.
Trump’s Envoy for Hostage Affairs, Adam Boehler, responded to the statement from France, the UK. and Canada, saying: “The US has always supported Israel and always considered how to balance interests, but if I were a European politician, I would think carefully about how to criticise Israel.”
US warns Israel over Gaza
Meanwhile, the Trump administration informed Israel that it will abandon them if it does not end the war, according to a report in the Washington Post on Monday citing a source familiar with discussions.
The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that Trump’s team told Israel: “We will abandon you if you do not end this war”.
In response, Netanyahu said Israel “cannot bear images of mass starvation before the Americans” and that small amounts of aid have been allowed into Gaza because “we are approaching a red line”.#
Two sources familiar with the matter also told the publication that the US had engaged in talks with Hamas, agreeing that they would allow some aid into the Strip if the group freed the captive Edan Alexander.
On Monday, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories announced that five trucks containing aid, including baby formula, had entered Gaza.
US Vice President J.D. Vance’s planned visit to Israel was also cancelled against the backdrop of tensions, a senior US official confirmed to Axios on Monday.
The official said that Vance made the decision because he did not want his visit to give the impression that the Trump administration was supportive of Israel’s actions amid US efforts to push for a ceasefire and secure the release of captives from Gaza.
However, an official statement said the reason behind the cancelled visit was due to “logistical reasons”.
Israel’s war on Gaza has killed over 61,700 Palestinians since October 2023, with international rights groups determining the offensive is a genocide. Israel has levelled entire neighbourhoods, displaced the majority of the population, and plunged Gaza into a deep humanitarian crisis.
C. New Arab
