The UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher fears that thousands of babies are at imminent risk of death in Gaza unless aid reaches them. Benjamin Netanyahu fears that foreign politicians could see too many pictures of Palestinian children like these.
Two months after all supplies were cut off, the Israeli government denies the obvious truth: that Gaza is on the brink of famine. But on Monday night the prime minister announced that “minimal” aid deliveries would restart, saying his country’s “greatest friends in the world” had told him that they could not “accept images of … mass hunger”. His entirely cynical response saw a handful of trucks permitted to cross; reportedly, 100 a day will now be allowed – grotesquely inadequate given the vast scale of need. Reaching the most vulnerable will be perilous and difficult anyway amid Israel’s intensified offensive. Mr Netanyahu vowed that Israel would “take control” of all of Gaza.
