Live: Six more Palestinians die of famine as Israel blocks Gaza aid

A group of foreign ministers from EU countries, along with the UK and Australia, have condemned Israel's plans to construct settlements east of Jerusalem, in what is known as the E1 area.

In a joint statement, they called the decision "unacceptable and in violation of international law". They urged the Israeli government to stop the construction of settlements, saying the move "fuels further violence and instability" and brings the region "further away from peace".

Israel has rubber-stamped the construction of the E1 settlement project in the occupied West Bank, in a move that a minister described as “erasing” a Palestinian state “not with slogans but with actions”. 

The settlement subcommittee of the Civil Administration on Wednesday approved the building of 3,400 new housing units on the occupied Palestinian territory.  

The famine in Gaza is being "entirely driven" by Israel’s near-total blockade on food and vital aid, as well as the "horrifying consequence" of Israel’s violence, and its "use of starvation as a weapon of war”, according to the policy lead of British non-governmental organisation, Oxfam.

Helen Stawski's statement comes in reaction to the integrated Food Security Classification (IPC) report published on Friday confirming a famine in Gaza Governorate, which is predicted to expand to Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis by the end of September.

Oxfam’s policy lead said: “Despite warnings in July that famine was imminent, Israel has continued to deprive Palestinians of food, denying almost every request from long-established humanitarian agencies, preventing them from delivering vital food and aid that could have stemmed hunger, malnutrition and disease."

Stawski added: “Oxfam alone has more than $2.5m worth of life-saving aid, including high-calorie food packages, now sitting in warehouses outside Gaza. Israeli authorities have rejected it all, at a time when it is needed more than ever."

At least six Palestinians have been arrested in dawn raids by Israeli troops in Nablus and Bethlehem governorates in the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ media office.

Israeli forces carried our raids in Nablus and the village of Madama to the south. A man was beaten during his arrest as the Israeli troops stormed his family house.

In various parts of Bethlehem governorate, four men aging between 34 and 53 were also arrested.

The UN human rights chief Volker Turk said on Friday that the officially declared famine in Gaza is the “direct result of actions taken by the Israeli government”.

He added that the deaths from starvation might amount to a war crime.

“The famine declared today in Gaza Governorate by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) is the direct result of actions taken by the Israeli government,” Turk said in a statement to reporters.

“It is a war crime to use starvation as a method of warfare, and the resulting deaths may also amount to the war crime of willful killing,” he added.

Famine has been officially declared in Gaza for the first time by the Integrated Food Phase Classification (IPC), the UN-backed global hunger monitor. 

The IPC released a report on Friday morning in which it said that famine was taking place in Gaza City and surrounding towns, in an area home to around 500,000 displaced Palestinians. 

While the body has previously warned that famine was imminent across Gaza, it had stopped short of making a formal declaration. 

The IPC is the globally recognised system for classifying the severity of food insecurity.

Since its creation in 2004, it has declared just five famines. The most recent one was in Sudan last year. 

Read more: Famine officially declared in Gaza by global hunger monitor

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said “many” children in Gaza have been “repeatedly displaced” since 7 October 2023.

“They are confined to ever-shrinking spaces with nearly 90 percent of the Gaza Strip within Israeli-militarised zones, under displacement orders, or both,” Unrwa said in a post on X.

“Children urgently need a #CeasefireNow.”

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Friday “soon, the gates of hell will open” if Hamas does not agree to “Israel’s conditions for ending the war, primarily the release of all hostages and their disarmament”.

“If they do not agree, Gaza [City], the capital of Hamas, will become Rafah and Beit Hanoun,” he added.

Earlier this week, Hamas accepted a ceasefire proposal, while mediators have been waiting for an official Israeli response.

The UK-based media outlet the Telegraph said on Friday that famine will be officially declared for the first time by the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).

IPC, a globally recognised system that classifies the severity of food insecurity and malnutrition, declared famine in Sudan last year.

According to a briefing shared by partner organisations and seen by Telegraph, “the IPC will state that a famine is taking place in the ‘Gaza Governorate’, which comprises Gaza City, three surrounding towns, and several refugee camps".

“After 22 months of relentless conflict, over half a million people in the Gaza Strip are facing catastrophic conditions, characterised by starvation, destitution and death,” says the IPC briefing.

Good morning Middle East Eye readers,

Here are the latest updates from the Israeli war on Gaza,

• Israeli air strikes have killed at least 25 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip since the early hours of Friday.

• Palestinian sources said on Friday that Israeli artillery shelled various areas in the Zeitoun and Sabra neighborhoods, south of Gaza City, located in central Gaza.

• Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Friday “soon, the gates of hell will open” if Hamas does not agree to “Israel’s conditions for ending the war, primarily the release of all hostages and their disarmament”.

• The Palestinian interior ministry in Gaza said Israel’s planned invasion of Gaza City "represents a death sentence and displacement" for 1.2 million people

• The United Nations said Gaza now has the highest number of child amputees compared to any other place in the world.

• CBS News quoted an American contractor, who previously worked in the Gaza Strip, as saying that shots fired at aid distribution sites were not warning shots, but rather random. He added that shooting was directed at civilians, not militants.

Good evening Middle East Eye readers,

At least 48 Palestinians were killed on Thursday by Israel's genocide in Gaza. Meanwhile, in an interview aired on Thursday Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel will attack Gaza City regardless of whether it reaches a ceasefire with Hamas that sees the release of Israeli captives. “We’re going to do that anyway," Netanyahu said in the interview. 

Also on Thursday, Hamas's armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, claimed an attack on what it described as an Israeli "command and control site" and a gathering of Israeli soldiers west of the city of Rafah.

Here is what else you need to know:

• The number of Palestinians killed while seeking food aid in Gaza rose to 13 according to Al Jazeera Arabic
• Lebanon on Thursday said it had started disarming Palestinian resistance groups
• At least five Palestinian boys between are missing after seeking humanitarian aid in Gaza, the Defense for Children International-Palestine (DCIP) said
• Amnesty International has condemned Israel's plan to build a sprawling new settlement in the occupied West Bank as a flagrant violation of international law

At least one Palestinian child was killed on Thursday by an Israeli drone strike in central Gaza, according to Al Jazeera Arabic. 

Israel targeted a residential apartment in the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip as part of its ongoing genocide in the enclave.

At least 48 Palestinians have been killed since dawn on Thursday by Israeli strikes. 

Finland on Thursday said it summoned Israel's ambassador over Israel's planned E1 settlement in the West Bank and its genocide on Gaza. 

The Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it expressed its "deep concern” over Israel’s plans to expand illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank and attack Gaza City.

“Finland called for the unhindered access of humanitarian aid to Gaza in line with international law,” the statement added. 

Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian vehicles on Thursday evening near the southern entrance of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian news agency, Wafa. 

Settlers blocked the main road connecting Jerusalem and Hebron in the occupied West bank and pelted Palestinian cars with stones. 

Settler attacks have soared amid Israel's 22 month genocide in Gaza. 

The UN Agency For Palestinian Refugees, Unrwa, warned on Thursday about the dire lack of shelters in Gaza with about 90 percent of Palestinians displaced.

Unrwa said Palestinians facing Israel's genocide are living in overcrowded conditions. 

"Existing shelters have deteriorated or been left behind amid repeated forced displacements. Further displacement will overwhelm an already catastrophic shelter situation," the statement added. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel will attack Gaza City regardless of whether it reaches a ceasefire with Hamas that sees the release of Israeli captives. 

“We’re going to do that anyway," Netanyahu said in an interview with Sky News Australia aired on Thursday.  

"That there was never a question that we’re not going to leave Hamas there,” he said.