CAIRO/UNITED NATIONS (Reuters): Hunger was worsening among Palestinians in the besieged Gaza strip, aid agencies said, as the United Nations General Assembly prepared to vote on Tuesday on an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the two-month-old conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Hundreds more civilians have died in Israel’s assault on Gaza since the U.S. on Friday vetoed a Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire.
Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been driven from their homes and residents say it is impossible to find refuge or food in the densely populated coastal enclave. The U.N. World Food Programme has said half of the population is starving.
“Hunger stalks everyone,” UNRWA, the U.N. body responsible for Palestinian refugees, said on X.
Gazans said people forced to flee repeatedly were dying of hunger and cold as well as the bombardments, describing looting of aid trucks and sky high prices.
Israel says its instructions to people to move are among measures it is taking to protect civilians as it tries to root out Hamas militants who killed 1,200 people and took 240 hostage in an Oct. 7 cross-border attack on Israel, according to Israeli tallies. About 100 hostages have since been freed.
Israel’s retaliatory assault has killed 18,205 people and wounded nearly 50,000, according to the Gaza health ministry.
The 193-member General Assembly is likely on Tuesday to pass a draft resolution that mirrors the language of one that was blocked by the United States in the 15-member Security Council last week.
General Assembly resolutions are not binding but carry political weight and reflect global views.
Some diplomats and observers predict the vote will garner greater support than the assembly’s October call for “an immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce.”
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