UPDATE - Hamas urges Arab, Muslim leaders to act as Gaza famine worsens

UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS, CHANGES DECK

By Tarek Chouiref

ISTANBUL (AA) – The Palestinian resistance group Hamas on Tuesday urged Arab and Muslim leaders to take urgent action to end the ongoing famine in Gaza, warning that the humanitarian crisis has reached “unprecedented and dangerous levels.”

In a statement, the group said nearly 100 civilians, including 80 children, have died from hunger and malnutrition since Israel imposed a total blockade nearly five months ago. About 1,000 others were reportedly shot dead by Israeli forces at aid points.

Hamas called for an immediate end to the Israeli siege and the unrestricted entry of humanitarian aid, accusing Israel of enforcing “a systematic policy of starvation and humiliation.”

It also criticized the inaction following the November 2023 Arab-Islamic summit in Riyadh, and urged Arab and Muslim countries to sever ties with Israel, expel its ambassadors, and shut down embassies as “initial steps toward isolating the occupying regime.”

The group decried what it described as “official Arab and Islamic silence,” saying such inaction has “shattered the hopes of our oppressed people.”

- Death traps

The Arab League also accused Israel of turning Gaza into “a zone of famine” and using starvation as “a weapon of war.”

In a statement after an emergency meeting in Cairo, the pan-Arab body called for the immediate entry of Arab, Islamic, and international aid convoys, and urged protection for humanitarian workers and full support for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).

It also urged the international community — especially the US — to pressure Israel to open all crossings and allow the flow of aid “without delay,” describing Israel’s actions as “a form of genocide.”

The meeting called on the international community to “unequivocally condemn and reject” the so-called “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation” and any similar mechanisms, calling them “illegitimate, unethical tools that use humanitarian cover to advance hostile policies and turning aid into a means of repression, death traps, and starvation against civilians.”

It expressed solidarity with Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the Palestinian territories, and other international organization officials facing “pressure and harassment” over their support for the Palestinian people and for exposing acts of genocide committed by Israeli forces.

On July 9, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Albanese had been added to the US sanctions list. The penalties include travel restrictions and the freezing of any potential assets in the US.

Rubio said on X that the move was in response to what he described as her illegitimate and shameful efforts to prompt the International Criminal Court action against U.S. and Israeli officials, companies, and executives."

Israel has killed more than 59,100 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in the Gaza Strip since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, collapsed the health system, and led to severe food shortages.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.