"Every day we receive heartbreaking messages from Gaza as people cry out in hunger. All our children and people in Gaza are saying right now is 'I am hungry. My family has no food. We are dying. Help us'," Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour said at a UN Security Council meeting on the Middle East situation on 23/7.

Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour at the UN Security Council meeting on the Middle East situation at the headquarters in New York on 23/7. Photo: Reuters

Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour at the UN Security Council meeting on the Middle East situation at the headquarters in New York on 23/7. Photo: Reuters

Israel is facing mounting international pressure over the humanitarian situation in Gaza, where more than two million people lack food and essential supplies after 21 months of conflict. Even after Israel began easing its aid blockade in late May, Gaza's residents continue to suffer severe shortages.

"What should we tell them? What should the Security Council tell them? That the whole world opposes the policy of starvation, but the situation is getting worse?" the Palestinian ambassador added.

Meanwhile, Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon accused Hamas, the group fighting Israel in Gaza, of exploiting this poverty to "fuel" their propaganda machine.

"For Hamas, the suffering of the people is their strongest weapon," Danon said.

Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon (red tie) at the UN Security Council meeting on 23/7. Photo: Reuters

Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon (red tie) at the UN Security Council meeting on 23/7. Photo: Reuters

According to Danon, Israel is making the Middle East safer. He also accused the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) of being unfair to Israel, calling it an "anti-Israel propaganda machine" and deliberately undercounting the number of aid trucks reaching Gaza.

"We will not work with organizations that choose politics over principles," Danon said, adding that in the future, Israel will only grant one-month visas to OCHA's international staff.

Over 100 aid and human rights groups on 23/7 stated that severe hunger is increasingly widespread in the Gaza Strip. France also warned of the growing "risk of famine" due to "Israel's blockade".

"I don't know what you would call it other than widespread famine. This situation is man-made," World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters.

Foreign ministers from 28 countries, including most EU members, along with the UK, Norway, Canada, Japan, and Australia, issued a joint statement on 21/7 condemning Israel for the "killing" of Gaza civilians and calling on Israel to immediately cease hostilities. The foreign ministers accused Israel of obstructing essential humanitarian aid and urged it to comply with its obligations under international humanitarian law.

Huyen Le (AFP)