The Palestinian death toll in Gaza passed 60,000 on Tuesday. The world's leading authority on food crises said the “ worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out” in the territory of over 2 million people as starvation deaths rise. And the United Nations said far too little food and other aid was entering the enclave, while most of Tuesday's dead were gunned down seeking aid.
Pressure grew on Israel's closest ally, the United States, to act as Americans' support for Israeli military action declines sharply.
Here's the latest:
Top UN official says famine alert in Gaza is ‘undeniable’
United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres says the new alert on Gaza from the world's leading international authority on food crises “confirms what we have feared: Gaza is on the brink of famine.”
“The facts are in — and they are undeniable,” Guterres said in a statement. “Palestinians in Gaza are enduring a humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions. This is not a warning. It is a reality unfolding before our eyes.” He again called for the free and unimpeded flow of food, water, medicine and fuel into the strip, saying that the “trickle of aid must become an ocean.”
Germany joins airdrop effort in Gaza
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz says two of his country’s military aircraft are on their way to Jordan to join the airdrops of aid to Gaza.
Merz said after meeting Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Tuesday that the two Airbus A400M planes can join airdrops by the weekend, possibly as early as Wednesday.
Abdullah acknowledged that airdrops are “a drop in the ocean,” though “it does send a signal and pressure on Israel that we are trying the best that we can.” He insisted that “truck traffic needs to be started as quickly as possible."
France to join airdrops for Gaza
A French diplomatic official says France will carry out airdrops of humanitarian aid to Gaza in the coming days. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government policy.
The official stressed that the airdrops are not intended to replace larger-scale relief efforts. France is also working to establish overland deliveries, which it described as “by far the most effective solution for delivering massive, unimpeded humanitarian relief.”
— Thomas Adamson in Paris