A leading organization monitoring food crises around the world withdrew a new report this week warning of impending famine in northern Gaza amid what it called a “near-total blockade” by Israel after the United States requested its withdrawal, the Associated Press reported, quoted by BTA, citing American officials.
The Biden administration's unusual interference in the work of the US-funded organization, the Famine Early Warning System, which was created to publish data-based analyses by impartial experts, has prompted accusations from humanitarian organizations and human rights activists of possible political interference by the United States.
The official establishment of famine conditions would constitute a public rebuke to Israel, which insists that its war in Gaza is directed against the militant group “Hamas“, and not against the civilian population, the AP points out.
The US Ambassador to Israel, Jacob Lew, earlier this week called the warning by the internationally recognized organization inaccurate and “irresponsible“. Liu and the U.S. Agency for International Development, which funds the monitoring group, said the findings do not properly account for the rapidly changing circumstances in northern Gaza.
However, humanitarian and human rights groups have expressed concerns about U.S. political interference in the global hunger monitoring system. The U.S. Embassy in Israel and the State Department, as well as representatives of the monitoring group, did not immediately respond to AP requests for comment.
Meanwhile, at least 50 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike targeting a building in the northern Gaza Strip late last night, DPA reported, citing Hamas-controlled health authorities.
The victims included five employees of a nearby clinic in Beit Lahiya, including a pediatrician, a laboratory technician, two paramedics and a technician, according to authorities and the director of the “Kamal Adwan“ hospital, Hussam Abu Safia. DPA noted that it could not independently confirm the information and the Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Israeli military said that one of its soldiers had been killed during clashes in the northern Gaza Strip.
The Israel Defense Forces also said that its air defense systems had intercepted a rocket fired from Yemen before it reached Israeli territory. Warning sirens were sounded in several central Israeli areas due to the risk of falling debris. The missile was intercepted shortly after Israeli fighter jets attacked targets in Yemen last night in response to attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels.