Israel kills 73 in Gaza as UK, EU and others slam ‘unimaginable’ suffering

Palestinians describe horrific scenes in Northern Gaza in the daily desperation to access food under Israeli fire.

Israeli forces have killed at least 73 Palestinians in Gaza in the past 24 hours, according to medics, as two more people, including a six-year-old child, died from Israel-induced starvation in the coastal enclave.

The killings on Tuesday included 19 aid seekers and came as the European Union and 26 countries, including the United Kingdom, France and Canada, condemned the “unimaginable levels” of suffering in Gaza and called for urgent action to halt and reverse the unfolding famine in the war-torn territory.

Survivors of the latest attacks on aid seekers, which took place near the Zikim crossing in northern Gaza, described horrific scenes.

“There was gunfire all around, we didn’t knowing what was happening. People were dying in front of us, bullets flying between our legs, and we couldn’t do anything,” said a man who gave his name as Sayyid.

“We got here to get a bite to eat, but we can barely make it. We’re exhausted, we’re dying… a piece of bread can now costs your life.”

Another survivor, Mohammed Abu Nahl, described crawling on his stomach, “with bullets flying all around” as the wounded and dead lay all around him.

“The dead were lying beneath us, and we were pulling them out,” he said. “I came here just to feed my children. I have no money to buy food. if I had food and water I wouldn’t come here. What should I do? Steal? Loot?

“We call on all countries to stand with us, to stop the war, and to end our suffering.”

The killings at Zikim take the death toll of aid seekers to more than 1,838 since late May, when the notorious United States-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation began its operations in the Gaza Strip.

The Nasser Medical Complex meanwhile announced the deaths of six-year old Jamal Fadi al-Najjar and 30-year-old Wissam Abu Mohsen from malnutrition.

This came shortly after Gaza’s Health Ministry said five more people had died of famine within 24 hours, bringing the total number of starvation-related fatalities since the start of Israel’s war to 227. The victims include more than 100 children.

The worsening crisis prompted strong denunciation from dozens of Western nations.

“The humanitarian suffering in Gaza has reached unimaginable levels,” the joint statement from the EU and the foreign ministers of 26 nations said. “Famine is unfolding before our eyes. Urgent action is needed now to halt and reverse starvation. Humanitarian space must be protected, and aid should never be politicised.”

The countries, which also include Australia and Japan went on to denounce the use of “lethal force” at food distribution sites.

“We call on the government of Israel to provide authorisation for all international NGO aid shipments and to unblock essential humanitarian actors from operating,” they added.

Source: Al Jazeera