Israel has continued to close crossings for the 84th day in a row, preventing the entry of humanitarian aid, food and essential goods, the government media office in Gaza said on Saturday, rejecting Israeli media claims that aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip is being delivered daily.
The statement said that “Israel’s deliberate blocking of humanitarian aid into the Strip has disrupted vital facilities, most notably hospitals and bakeries on which Palestinians depend for survival.”
“Israel is disabling more than 90 percent of bakeries in the Strip, reflecting its policy of causing famine,” the statement said.
It noted that “hundreds of thousands of tons of humanitarian aid have piled up outside Gaza and been damaged or spoiled due to Israel’s refusal to allow it in for months.”
The office confirmed that Israel’s policy of starvation, implemented through the continuous closure of crossings and the prevention of aid deliveries, has led to the deaths of 326 Palestinians in the past 80 days amid an ongoing genocide.
“In recent days, Israel has imposed restrictions on the movement of aid and allowed ‘a few aid trucks’ into the Strip, but has also directly targeted its security teams, killing six people protecting the aid,” it said.
During the 84-day siege and closure, at least 46,200 trucks carrying aid and fuel were due to enter Gaza to meet the basic needs of the population.
However, in recent days, Israel has promoted a misleading narrative claiming to be allowing aid into the country, even though only around 100 trucks have entered, which is less than one percent of the population’s basic needs, the statement said.
The office detailed the deaths during the 80-day siege, saying: “58 people died from malnutrition, 242 from lack of food and medicine, mostly elderly people, and 26 kidney patients died due to lack of access to proper nutrition and health care.”
The statement added that “over 300 cases of miscarriages were recorded among pregnant women due to lack of essential nutrients needed to sustain pregnancy.”
The media office called on the international community and humanitarian organizations to “fulfill their moral and legal responsibilities and act swiftly to save civilians in the Gaza Strip from starvation by opening crossings and allowing sufficient humanitarian aid,” as well as to end the genocide committed by the occupation.
Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli military has been carrying out a brutal offensive against Gaza since October 2023, killing more than 53,900 Palestinians, mostly women and children.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide charge before the International Court of Justice over the occupation’s war on the enclave.
