Gaza… The Hungriest Place on Earth

31st May 2025

3 minutes read

It is no longer the airstrikes that terrify the people of Gaza the most — it is hunger, a far deadlier enemy, one that gnaws at their insides before ultimately claiming their lives.

On Friday, the spokesperson for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) stated that “Gaza is currently the hungriest place on Earth,” warning that “100% of the population is at risk of famine.”

During a regular press briefing in Geneva, Jens Laerke explained: “It is the only specific area — whether a country or a defined territory — where the entire population is exposed to famine risk.”

He emphasized: “100% of the population is at risk.”

Laerke also noted that only 600 out of 900 aid trucks authorized to approach the Israeli border with Gaza have managed to do so. However, a series of bureaucratic and security hurdles has made it nearly impossible to deliver aid safely inside the territory.

“What we’ve been able to get in is flour. That’s not ready-to-eat food, is it? It needs to be cooked… 100% of Gaza’s population is at risk of famine,” he said.

Tommaso Della Longa, spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, added that half of Gaza’s medical facilities have ceased operations due to lack of fuel or essential medical equipment.

Call for Full-Scale Military Action

That same day, Israel’s Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, called for “full force” to be used in Gaza, following Hamas’s rejection of a new ceasefire proposal backed by the United States.

So far, indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas, ongoing for over 19 months, have failed to yield any breakthrough.

On Telegram, Ben Gvir addressed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “After Hamas has once again rejected the deal, there are no more excuses.”

He added: “This hesitation, this confusion, this weakness must end. We’ve wasted enough opportunities. It’s time to enter Gaza with full force, without hesitation, to destroy and eliminate Hamas down to the last man.”

White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt announced Thursday that President Donald Trump and U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff had submitted to Hamas a ceasefire proposal that Israel had already signed and endorsed.

“Israel signed the proposal before it was sent to Hamas,” she stated.

However, Israel has not officially confirmed its approval of the new offer.

Sources within Hamas said last week that they had agreed to a U.S.-brokered ceasefire proposal. However, the movement clarified yesterday that the new proposal differs and is more aligned with Israeli demands.

According to two Palestinian sources familiar with the negotiations, the new American proposal includes a 60-day truce, extendable to 70 days, and a first exchange in which Hamas would release five live hostages and nine deceased during the first week, in return for Palestinian prisoners released by Israel. A second exchange would follow the next week with an identical number of hostages.

The proposal Hamas had initially accepted, according to a Palestinian source, included a 70-day truce, with the release of 10 hostages in two phases — five during the first week, and five before the end of the ceasefire — accompanied by negotiations for a permanent ceasefire guaranteed by the United States.