Haiti in danger as UN flags extreme famine risk
Haiti is among five regions at imminent risk of famine, according to a new United Nations report that paints a stark picture of global hunger. The Hunger Hotspots report, released Monday by the UN and World Food Programme, identifies Gaza, Sudan, South Sudan, Haiti, and Mali as facing the most critical hunger emergencies, warning of famine without urgent humanitarian action. In Haiti, gang violence and economic collapse have displaced thousands, compounding what the UN calls a 'red alert' crisis. More than 8,000 Haitians are suffering extreme food insecurity. From a tent settlement in Port-au-Prince, local resident Schneider told Reuters that many families go an entire day without food. "There is no government support. Hunger is ravaging us." Renette, a mother trying to feed her children, broke down: "I haven't given them anything since this morning. The famine is hard, we are about to die." A famine is officially declared when 20% of people face acute food shortages, 30% of children are acutely malnourished, and two in 10,000 people die each day from starvation or related diseases. The UN report also warns that insecurity and funding shortfalls are making aid delivery nearly impossible in high-risk regions. While countries like Ethiopia, Kenya, and Lebanon have improved and were removed from the critical list, 13 nations remain extreme hunger hot spots, with Haiti's crisis worsening rapidly.
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ABC News
2 days ago
- ABC News
Gazans fear they are being forgotten amid focus on Iran
While Israel's war with Iran continues, Gazans are begging for help, saying their suffering is being ignored because of the new conflict. "No one cares about Gaza. The massacres continue in silence," Mahmoud Wadi, from northern Gaza, told the ABC. The 21-year-old is one of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians whose life has been uprooted by Israel's renewed offensive. He now fears the focus on Iran will allow Israel to continue expanding its attacks and seizure of territory in Gaza. "With the strike on Iran, we fear the war will intensify against us. We have no one left but God to turn to. We can only hope their focus shifts elsewhere, because what we've endured here, no one else has realised," Mr Wadi said. "It's been over 600 days, and the bloodshed hasn't stopped. We had only a brief pause, a few months of fragile respite, before it returned, even more brutal than before. Now we fear that it will continue here and it will continue with Iran." The United Nations said about 60 people were killed on Tuesday, many near a food distribution, one of a series of shootings around the new, Israeli-backed aid system. The Israeli military said its troops opened fire when an aid truck got stuck near Israeli soldiers in the city of Khan Younis. It said it was reviewing the incident. The United Nations said 338 people (as of Wednesday) had been killed and more than 2,800 injured trying to get food from new sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a private contractor with undisclosed funding sources, since they opened last month. Israeli air strikes and artillery fire are also continuing, and Israel has ordered more Palestinians to leave new areas of Gaza. Humanitarian organisation said essential services and healthcare were about to collapse because of ongoing Israeli restrictions on aid entering the strip. "No fuel has entered Gaza for more than 100 days, and attempts to retrieve fuel stocks from evacuation zones have been denied," the director of the World Health Organisation, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a social media post. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs also warned that the lack of fuel would cut off other remaining essential services. "Without immediate resupply, essential services — including the provision of clean water — will grind to a halt very soon. As we mentioned yesterday, in southern Gaza, diesel supplies needed to operate critical equipment are nearly exhausted," the agency said. Israel's government and military have previously stated they were monitoring the humanitarian situation in Gaza and have been allowing aid in as needed. The Israeli government has blamed aid groups coordinated by the United Nations for failures in delivering aid, although the UN said Israeli restrictions and attacks are the main obstacles to collecting and distributing aid. The Israeli military has denied committing war crimes in Gaza, saying it tries to minimise civilian casualties. Gazans told the ABC they feel abandoned and fear the focus on the Iran war will allow Israel to commit atrocities unnoticed. "Despite the conflict with Iran, the bombardments here have resumed — more targeting, more killing. Even as they fight with other countries, their war against us has not stopped. It continues without pause," Nabila Shanmar, from Gaza City, told the ABC. "We fear that the strikes on Iran will only worsen our situation here. The crossings remain sealed, and we've endured this dire reality for a couple of years. Now, we brace for even darker days ahead." Other Gazans said they were not hopeful of any outside help and were now just expecting to die. "The situation can't possibly get any worse, we've already reached the lowest point imaginable. And if it does, it will mean we're beyond caring because we'll no longer be here," Abu Mohammad, 68, from the central Gazan city of Deir al Balah said. "More than the bombing of buildings with residents inside, massacres, what can be worse than that?" Israel's military campaign since October 2023 has killed over 55,300 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Its count doesn't distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel launched its campaign aiming to destroy Hamas after the group's October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, in which militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking another 251 hostage. The militants still hold 53 hostages, fewer than half of them alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Talk of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which previously ruled Gaza, has faded. Israel has previously accused Iran of supporting Hamas and is presumed to have been responsible for killing Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh while he was visiting Tehran in 2024. But ordinary Gazans said the new conflict was distracting Arab nations like Qatar which were working to end the war in Gaza. "No country is looking at us as all Arab countries support the Americans and the Israelis," Salah el Nabein, from Deir al Balah, said. "All leaders like Qatar are busy with Iran. They have no time for us. "The war is only growing worse. Gaza has faded from the headlines, forgotten by much of the world. Yet the suffering continues. People are starving, cut off from food, aid, and hope. There is no food left, there is nothing." "We feel helpless as the situation continues to deteriorate. Each day brings more loss, more martyrs than the day before. The toll keeps rising. The international inattention, Israel's highly controversial aid program and expanding offensive have left Gazans feeling trapped and believing Israel and the United States are about to force them to leave the strip. "We feel like a laboratory or a huge animal zoo, where experiments are conducted on us," Abu Mohammad said. "The times ahead will be devastating, as they plan to forcibly deport all of us. An uprooting of an entire people, with no one to stand beside us or demand that we be spared."
The Australian
3 days ago
- The Australian
Haiti in danger as UN flags extreme famine risk
Haiti is among five regions at imminent risk of famine, according to a new United Nations report that paints a stark picture of global hunger. The Hunger Hotspots report, released Monday by the UN and World Food Programme, identifies Gaza, Sudan, South Sudan, Haiti, and Mali as facing the most critical hunger emergencies, warning of famine without urgent humanitarian action. In Haiti, gang violence and economic collapse have displaced thousands, compounding what the UN calls a 'red alert' crisis. More than 8,000 Haitians are suffering extreme food insecurity. From a tent settlement in Port-au-Prince, local resident Schneider told Reuters that many families go an entire day without food. "There is no government support. Hunger is ravaging us." Renette, a mother trying to feed her children, broke down: "I haven't given them anything since this morning. The famine is hard, we are about to die." A famine is officially declared when 20% of people face acute food shortages, 30% of children are acutely malnourished, and two in 10,000 people die each day from starvation or related diseases. The UN report also warns that insecurity and funding shortfalls are making aid delivery nearly impossible in high-risk regions. While countries like Ethiopia, Kenya, and Lebanon have improved and were removed from the critical list, 13 nations remain extreme hunger hot spots, with Haiti's crisis worsening rapidly.
The Advertiser
4 days ago
- The Advertiser
Forty killed in Gaza, many trying to reach food
Israeli fire has killed at least 40 people, half of them near an aid distribution site operated by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the territory's health ministry said, as UN officials denounced Israeli-backed aid delivery methods. Medics said at least 20 people were killed and 200 others wounded near an aid distribution site in Rafah on Monday, the latest in daily mass shootings that have killed hundreds of Palestinians trying to reach food since Israel imposed a new distribution system after partly lifting a near three-month total blockade. Israel has put responsibility for distributing much of the aid it allows into Gaza into the hands of a new US-backed group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which operates three sites in areas guarded by Israeli troops. The United Nations has rejected the plan, saying GHF distribution is inadequate, dangerous and violates humanitarian impartiality principles. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military about Monday's reports of shootings. In previous incidents it has occasionally acknowledged troops opening fire near aid sites, while blaming militants for provoking the violence. Relatives arrived at Nasser Hospital to mourn the dead. Women and children wept beside bodies wrapped in white shrouds. "We went there thinking we would get aid to feed our children, but it turned out to be a trap, a killing. I advise everyone: don't go there," said Ahmed Fayad, one of those who tried to reach aid on Monday. Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the United Nations Palestinian refugees agency UNRWA, said in a post on X: "Scores of people have been killed & injured in the past days, including of starving people trying to get some food from a lethal distribution system." Before the new system was set up, aid had been distributed to Gaza's 2.3 million residents mainly by UN agencies such as UNRWA, which employ thousands of staff inside Gaza and operate hundreds of sites across the breadth of the enclave. Israel says it has had to crack down on distribution because Hamas fighters were diverting food aid. The militants deny this and say Israel is using hunger as a weapon. Lazzarini said Israel had not lifted restrictions on UN agencies including UNRWA bringing in aid, despite an abundance of assistance ready to be moved into the enclave. On Sunday, COGAT, the Israeli military aid coordination agency, said that this week it had facilitated the entry of 292 trucks with humanitarian aid from the United Nations and the international community, including food and flour, into Gaza. It said the Israeli military would continue to permit the entry of humanitarian aid while ensuring it did not reach Hamas. Before Monday's incident, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said that at least 300 people had so far been killed, and more than 2600 wounded, near aid distribution sites since the GHF began operations. In Geneva, Volker Turk, UN rights chief, told the UN Human Rights Council on Monday that Israel had "weaponised" food in Gaza. He repeated a call for investigations into deadly attacks near the GHF distribution sites. "Israel's means and methods of warfare are inflicting horrifying, unconscionable suffering on Palestinians in Gaza," said Turk. "Disturbing, dehumanising rhetoric from senior Israeli government officials is reminiscent of the gravest of crimes," he added. On Sunday, at least five people were killed as thousands of Palestinians approached two GHF distribution sites in the central and southern the enclave. The GHF said in a statement that it resumed food deliveries on Sunday, distributing more than two million meals from its three distribution sites without incident. The war in Gaza erupted 20 months ago after Hamas-led militants raided Israel and took 251 hostages and killed 1200 people, most of them civilians, on October 7, 2023, Israel's single deadliest day. Israel's military campaign since has killed nearly 55,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to health authorities in Gaza, and flattened much of the densely populated strip. Most of the population is displaced, and widespread malnutrition is a significant concern. Israeli fire has killed at least 40 people, half of them near an aid distribution site operated by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the territory's health ministry said, as UN officials denounced Israeli-backed aid delivery methods. Medics said at least 20 people were killed and 200 others wounded near an aid distribution site in Rafah on Monday, the latest in daily mass shootings that have killed hundreds of Palestinians trying to reach food since Israel imposed a new distribution system after partly lifting a near three-month total blockade. Israel has put responsibility for distributing much of the aid it allows into Gaza into the hands of a new US-backed group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which operates three sites in areas guarded by Israeli troops. The United Nations has rejected the plan, saying GHF distribution is inadequate, dangerous and violates humanitarian impartiality principles. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military about Monday's reports of shootings. In previous incidents it has occasionally acknowledged troops opening fire near aid sites, while blaming militants for provoking the violence. Relatives arrived at Nasser Hospital to mourn the dead. Women and children wept beside bodies wrapped in white shrouds. "We went there thinking we would get aid to feed our children, but it turned out to be a trap, a killing. I advise everyone: don't go there," said Ahmed Fayad, one of those who tried to reach aid on Monday. Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the United Nations Palestinian refugees agency UNRWA, said in a post on X: "Scores of people have been killed & injured in the past days, including of starving people trying to get some food from a lethal distribution system." Before the new system was set up, aid had been distributed to Gaza's 2.3 million residents mainly by UN agencies such as UNRWA, which employ thousands of staff inside Gaza and operate hundreds of sites across the breadth of the enclave. Israel says it has had to crack down on distribution because Hamas fighters were diverting food aid. The militants deny this and say Israel is using hunger as a weapon. Lazzarini said Israel had not lifted restrictions on UN agencies including UNRWA bringing in aid, despite an abundance of assistance ready to be moved into the enclave. On Sunday, COGAT, the Israeli military aid coordination agency, said that this week it had facilitated the entry of 292 trucks with humanitarian aid from the United Nations and the international community, including food and flour, into Gaza. It said the Israeli military would continue to permit the entry of humanitarian aid while ensuring it did not reach Hamas. Before Monday's incident, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said that at least 300 people had so far been killed, and more than 2600 wounded, near aid distribution sites since the GHF began operations. In Geneva, Volker Turk, UN rights chief, told the UN Human Rights Council on Monday that Israel had "weaponised" food in Gaza. He repeated a call for investigations into deadly attacks near the GHF distribution sites. "Israel's means and methods of warfare are inflicting horrifying, unconscionable suffering on Palestinians in Gaza," said Turk. "Disturbing, dehumanising rhetoric from senior Israeli government officials is reminiscent of the gravest of crimes," he added. On Sunday, at least five people were killed as thousands of Palestinians approached two GHF distribution sites in the central and southern the enclave. The GHF said in a statement that it resumed food deliveries on Sunday, distributing more than two million meals from its three distribution sites without incident. The war in Gaza erupted 20 months ago after Hamas-led militants raided Israel and took 251 hostages and killed 1200 people, most of them civilians, on October 7, 2023, Israel's single deadliest day. Israel's military campaign since has killed nearly 55,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to health authorities in Gaza, and flattened much of the densely populated strip. Most of the population is displaced, and widespread malnutrition is a significant concern. Israeli fire has killed at least 40 people, half of them near an aid distribution site operated by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the territory's health ministry said, as UN officials denounced Israeli-backed aid delivery methods. Medics said at least 20 people were killed and 200 others wounded near an aid distribution site in Rafah on Monday, the latest in daily mass shootings that have killed hundreds of Palestinians trying to reach food since Israel imposed a new distribution system after partly lifting a near three-month total blockade. Israel has put responsibility for distributing much of the aid it allows into Gaza into the hands of a new US-backed group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which operates three sites in areas guarded by Israeli troops. The United Nations has rejected the plan, saying GHF distribution is inadequate, dangerous and violates humanitarian impartiality principles. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military about Monday's reports of shootings. In previous incidents it has occasionally acknowledged troops opening fire near aid sites, while blaming militants for provoking the violence. Relatives arrived at Nasser Hospital to mourn the dead. Women and children wept beside bodies wrapped in white shrouds. "We went there thinking we would get aid to feed our children, but it turned out to be a trap, a killing. I advise everyone: don't go there," said Ahmed Fayad, one of those who tried to reach aid on Monday. Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the United Nations Palestinian refugees agency UNRWA, said in a post on X: "Scores of people have been killed & injured in the past days, including of starving people trying to get some food from a lethal distribution system." Before the new system was set up, aid had been distributed to Gaza's 2.3 million residents mainly by UN agencies such as UNRWA, which employ thousands of staff inside Gaza and operate hundreds of sites across the breadth of the enclave. Israel says it has had to crack down on distribution because Hamas fighters were diverting food aid. The militants deny this and say Israel is using hunger as a weapon. Lazzarini said Israel had not lifted restrictions on UN agencies including UNRWA bringing in aid, despite an abundance of assistance ready to be moved into the enclave. On Sunday, COGAT, the Israeli military aid coordination agency, said that this week it had facilitated the entry of 292 trucks with humanitarian aid from the United Nations and the international community, including food and flour, into Gaza. It said the Israeli military would continue to permit the entry of humanitarian aid while ensuring it did not reach Hamas. Before Monday's incident, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said that at least 300 people had so far been killed, and more than 2600 wounded, near aid distribution sites since the GHF began operations. In Geneva, Volker Turk, UN rights chief, told the UN Human Rights Council on Monday that Israel had "weaponised" food in Gaza. He repeated a call for investigations into deadly attacks near the GHF distribution sites. "Israel's means and methods of warfare are inflicting horrifying, unconscionable suffering on Palestinians in Gaza," said Turk. "Disturbing, dehumanising rhetoric from senior Israeli government officials is reminiscent of the gravest of crimes," he added. On Sunday, at least five people were killed as thousands of Palestinians approached two GHF distribution sites in the central and southern the enclave. The GHF said in a statement that it resumed food deliveries on Sunday, distributing more than two million meals from its three distribution sites without incident. The war in Gaza erupted 20 months ago after Hamas-led militants raided Israel and took 251 hostages and killed 1200 people, most of them civilians, on October 7, 2023, Israel's single deadliest day. Israel's military campaign since has killed nearly 55,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to health authorities in Gaza, and flattened much of the densely populated strip. Most of the population is displaced, and widespread malnutrition is a significant concern. Israeli fire has killed at least 40 people, half of them near an aid distribution site operated by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the territory's health ministry said, as UN officials denounced Israeli-backed aid delivery methods. Medics said at least 20 people were killed and 200 others wounded near an aid distribution site in Rafah on Monday, the latest in daily mass shootings that have killed hundreds of Palestinians trying to reach food since Israel imposed a new distribution system after partly lifting a near three-month total blockade. Israel has put responsibility for distributing much of the aid it allows into Gaza into the hands of a new US-backed group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which operates three sites in areas guarded by Israeli troops. The United Nations has rejected the plan, saying GHF distribution is inadequate, dangerous and violates humanitarian impartiality principles. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military about Monday's reports of shootings. In previous incidents it has occasionally acknowledged troops opening fire near aid sites, while blaming militants for provoking the violence. Relatives arrived at Nasser Hospital to mourn the dead. Women and children wept beside bodies wrapped in white shrouds. "We went there thinking we would get aid to feed our children, but it turned out to be a trap, a killing. I advise everyone: don't go there," said Ahmed Fayad, one of those who tried to reach aid on Monday. Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the United Nations Palestinian refugees agency UNRWA, said in a post on X: "Scores of people have been killed & injured in the past days, including of starving people trying to get some food from a lethal distribution system." Before the new system was set up, aid had been distributed to Gaza's 2.3 million residents mainly by UN agencies such as UNRWA, which employ thousands of staff inside Gaza and operate hundreds of sites across the breadth of the enclave. Israel says it has had to crack down on distribution because Hamas fighters were diverting food aid. The militants deny this and say Israel is using hunger as a weapon. Lazzarini said Israel had not lifted restrictions on UN agencies including UNRWA bringing in aid, despite an abundance of assistance ready to be moved into the enclave. On Sunday, COGAT, the Israeli military aid coordination agency, said that this week it had facilitated the entry of 292 trucks with humanitarian aid from the United Nations and the international community, including food and flour, into Gaza. It said the Israeli military would continue to permit the entry of humanitarian aid while ensuring it did not reach Hamas. Before Monday's incident, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said that at least 300 people had so far been killed, and more than 2600 wounded, near aid distribution sites since the GHF began operations. In Geneva, Volker Turk, UN rights chief, told the UN Human Rights Council on Monday that Israel had "weaponised" food in Gaza. He repeated a call for investigations into deadly attacks near the GHF distribution sites. "Israel's means and methods of warfare are inflicting horrifying, unconscionable suffering on Palestinians in Gaza," said Turk. "Disturbing, dehumanising rhetoric from senior Israeli government officials is reminiscent of the gravest of crimes," he added. On Sunday, at least five people were killed as thousands of Palestinians approached two GHF distribution sites in the central and southern the enclave. The GHF said in a statement that it resumed food deliveries on Sunday, distributing more than two million meals from its three distribution sites without incident. The war in Gaza erupted 20 months ago after Hamas-led militants raided Israel and took 251 hostages and killed 1200 people, most of them civilians, on October 7, 2023, Israel's single deadliest day. Israel's military campaign since has killed nearly 55,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to health authorities in Gaza, and flattened much of the densely populated strip. Most of the population is displaced, and widespread malnutrition is a significant concern.
