The ongoing blockade of Gaza has pushed the enclave\u2019s 2.3 million people to the brink of starvation, Cindy McCain, executive director of the U.N.\u2019s World Food Program, warned on Sunday.
\nIsrael has besieged the densely populated coastal region for almost two weeks, refusing to allow in food and medical aid amid fears it could fall into the hands of the militant group Hamas. As Israel intensified airstrikes over the weekend in preparation for a ground invasion, the first 20 aid trucks entered Gaza on Saturday after being blocked near the Egyptian-controlled Rafah border crossing.
\nBut a lot more aid needs to be delivered, McCain told POLITICO.
\n\u201cRight now we\u2019re facing a catastrophe in the area with the inability to feed people and the inability for the people to find anything to eat at all,\u201d McCain said in an interview Sunday. \u201cThese people are going to starve to death unless we can get in.\u201d
\nHer warning was echoed by the regional director of the relief organization Mercy Corps, Arnaud Quemin, who told POLITICO a ceasefire is needed if there is going to be a sustainable flow of humanitarian aid into the Gaza.
\nQuemin warned that a spread of the conflict to neighboring countries, like Lebanon, already wracked by recent wars and deep in an economic crisis, would present the international community with a \u201cdaunting challenge.\u201d
\nA second convoy of aid trucks entered the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing on Sunday, heading towards the Gaza Strip, Reuters reported, citing Egyptian security and humanitarian sources at Rafah. The trucks were carrying medical and food supplies, according to the report.
\nThere are already an estimated 1.5 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon and any major displacement of the Lebanese from southern Lebanon in the event of full-scale hostilities breaking out between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, a Hamas ally, would have catastrophic repercussions, he said on Sunday. \u201cIt would be horrible. I hope the all the major actors in the region understand that there aren\u2019t any buffers.\u201d
\nThe Gaza Strip has been besieged by Israeli forces since October 9, when Israel\u2019s Defense Minister Yoav Gallan moved to restrict all access to food, water and energy in the enclave in retaliation for a surprise incursion from the Hamas militant group that killed at least 1,400 people in Israel.
\nIsrael\u2019s retaliatory air and missile strikes have killed at least 4,385 Palestinians, including hundreds of children, and displaced more than a million people, Gaza\u2019s health ministry said on Saturday.
\nIsrael intensified its airstrikes Saturday night, killing more than 50 Palestinians, according to medical authorities in Gaza. The Israeli military warned that civilians who refused to relocate to the southern part of Gaza could be identified as sympathizers with a terrorist organization, Reuters reported.<\/p>\n
Next stages of the war
\nIsraeli military officials are warning that the near-constant aerial bombardment of the coastal enclave will only intensify in the coming days in preparation for a ground incursion into the Gaza.
\n\u201cWe will increase our strikes, minimize the risk to our troops in the next stages of the war, and we will intensify the strikes, starting from today,\u201d Daniel Hagari, a spokesman for Israel Defense Forces (IDF), said on Saturday, adding that a ground operation in Gaza would be launched when conditions are right.
\nAll eyes are now on the next move by the IDF, which has amassed huge numbers of troops outside Gaza and pounded the densely populated area with airstrikes in its attempt to eradicate Hamas following its deadly October 7 attack on Israel.
\nMeanwhile, Israel on Sunday launched an airstrike on the Al-Ansar Mosque in the city of Jenin in occupied West Bank, claiming militant Palestinian groups have been using it to plan \u201can imminent terror attack.\u201d Violence has flared in the West Bank with Israel stepping up operations since the Hamas attack on southern Israel two weeks ago.
\nAnd according to Syria\u2019s state news agency, Israeli airstrikes targeted both Damascus and Aleppo airports in the early hours Sunday, putting out of action the runways and forcing air traffic to be diverted to the city of Latakia. An Israel Defense Forces spokesperson declined to comment.
\nIsrael earlier struck both airports on October 12 amid fears that Iran might use them to transfer weaponry to Hezbollah in readiness to launch a \u201csecond front\u201d against Israel, something Iran and the Lebanese militant group have threatened to do if Israel fails to stop bombing Gaza.
\nSince the Gaza war erupted earlier this month, Hezbollah and Israel have been trading fire across the southern Lebanese border with increasing intensity. Both sides have largely confined their exchanges to military targets with Hezbollah acknowledging 15 of its fighters have been killed but claiming to have knocked out two Israeli tanks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The ongoing blockade of Gaza has pushed the enclave\u2019s 2.3 million people to the brink of starvation, Cindy McCain, executive director of the U.N.\u2019s World Food Program, warned on Sunday. Israel has besieged the densely populated coastal region for almost two weeks, refusing to allow in food and medical aid amid fears it could fall […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":363294,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-363269","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n