Gaza famine warnings risk arms ban on 'Israel': Israeli media

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Israeli media
10 Nov 2024 13:30

The Israeli Channel 12 reports that "Israel" is worried the United States, its closest ally, might refrain from using its veto in the Security Council to protect Israeli interests.

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The tips of 155mm artillery shells are pictured near a self-propelled howitzer deployed at a position near the border with Lebanon in northern occupied Palestine, on October 18, 2023 (Jalaa Marey/AFP via Getty Images)

Israeli media revealed on Saturday evening that the World Health Organization's announcement of famine conditions in northern Gaza may lead to new sanctions against "Israel" and a ban on arms exports to the occupation regime.

This Israeli concern over potential sanctions follows a warning from the Famine Review Committee of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) — a team of senior independent international experts in food security, nutrition, and mortality — which indicated a strong likelihood of imminent famine in northern Gaza, amid "Israel’s" ongoing siege on the area.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus emphasized that the warning from global food security experts of potential famine in northern Gaza is deeply concerning, calling for an immediate increase in humanitarian aid and its safe delivery.

The Israeli Channel 12 reported that "Israel" is worried the United States, its closest ally, might refrain from using its veto in the Security Council to protect Israeli interests.

Moreover, senior officials assess that political complexities and international pressures may persist, and even intensify, after the US government transition, with Donald Trump returning to the White House.

The UN-backed assessment on Saturday indicated that famine is looming in northern Gaza as hostilities intensify and food aid has nearly come to a halt.

The IPC report noted that the current aid shipments entering Gaza are at their lowest level since October 2023.

It warned of "an imminent and substantial likelihood of famine occurring, due to the rapidly deteriorating situation in the Gaza Strip".

On October 17, the IPC projected that by April 2025, approximately 345,000 people—or 16% of Gaza’s population—would face "catastrophic" levels of food insecurity.

The committee classified this condition as Phase 5, when "starvation, death, destitution, and extremely critical acute malnutrition levels are evident."

Since that projection, conditions in northern Gaza have deteriorated further, with the food system collapsing, humanitarian aid plummeting, and critical water, sanitation, and hygiene services in disarray, the IPC highlighted.

"It can therefore be assumed that starvation, malnutrition, and excess mortality due to malnutrition and disease, are rapidly increasing in these areas," it underscored.

Expressing additional concerns, the committee pointed to "Israel’s" recent severing of ties with the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestinians, cautioning that this move could have "extremely serious consequences for humanitarian operations" in Gaza.

In October, Washington warned Tel Aviv of a potential halt in some weapons supplies if the humanitarian situation in Gaza did not improve. The issue of delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza was a key topic in the first phone call between US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and "Israel’s" new Security Minister, Israel Katz.

During the conversation, Austin underscored the urgent need to address the humanitarian situation in Gaza before the expiration of the 30-day deadline set by Washington for Tel Aviv till November 13.

Warnings of famine coincide with "Israel’s" continued intense assault on northern Gaza, marked by further massacres and acts of genocide, including the bombing of homes, hospitals, shelters, and civil defense teams, and the obstruction of medical teams from retrieving the martyred and injured.