#Gaza #Israel #BBCNews As Israel continues its first ground offensive in central Gaza's Deir al-Balah, the UN has warned that the "last lifelines keeping people alive" in the territory "are collapsing".
Meanwhile, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy says he feels "appalled" and "sickened" by the scenes coming out of Gaza.
It comes after the UK and more than 20 other nations criticised the Israeli government and military for its "unacceptable" conduct.
The Israeli government dismissed the statement as "disconnected from reality", saying Hamas is the "sole party responsible for the continuation of the war and the suffering on both sides".
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00:00The head of the UN says he's appalled by what he calls the accelerating breakdown of humanitarian conditions in Gaza,
00:08as international criticism of Israel intensifies.
00:11On the ground, Israeli forces are continuing their offensive in central Gaza, specifically in the area Deir al-Bala.
00:19Well, the World Health Organization says that two locations there, a warehouse and staff accommodation, have been attacked.
00:25It said employees were handcuffed, stripped and interrogated at gunpoint by Israeli forces.
00:32Meanwhile, the Israeli military says it intercepted a missile launched from Yemen targeted at Ben-Gurion Airport.
00:39On Monday, 28 countries, including Britain and France, but not the US, released a statement calling for an end to the war,
00:46something that Israel described as disconnected from reality.
00:49Well, in the last hour, the BBC spoke to the UK Foreign Secretary about the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
00:57Appalled. Sickened. I described what I saw yesterday in Parliament as grotesque.
01:04These are not words that are usually used by a Foreign Secretary who's attempting to be diplomatic.
01:12But when you see innocent children holding out their hand for food and you see them shot and killed in the way that we have seen in the last few days,
01:24of course, Britain must call it out.
01:26Of course, Britain must lead others in the statement, as I did yesterday, to call it out.
01:31Of course, we must get on the phone and we must urge Israel to think again, as I did again yesterday.
01:37And we will continue to pressure, we will continue to add, we will continue to urge this Israeli government to listen to 83% of its public
01:48who are urging them now to move to a ceasefire so those hostages can come out.
01:55David Lammy there, the UK Foreign Secretary.
01:57I'm joined now by our Gaza correspondent, Rushdie Abu Alouf.
02:01Rushdie, thank you for being with us.
02:03What is the latest reliable information that we have about the situation on the ground,
02:08on how people are facing with this lack of food, how people are faring?
02:16Well, the situation remained very tense in the ground, especially in the middle in Dere al-Balach area.
02:21You know, Dere al-Balach was the last remaining standing area in Gaza
02:26that has been subject to a very tough Israeli operation started about 48 hours ago
02:33with a general warning to several blocks in the city,
02:37which is sheltering hundreds of thousands of people who fled since the fighting renewed back in March from Rafah and Khan Yunis.
02:46Now, those people have to evacuate again.
02:49We have seen thousands of people moving to Al Mawasi area and also to other smaller camps near Dere al-Balach.
02:57The fighting in Dere al-Balach is still there, people talking about big exublusions in the area.
03:03What is significant about Dere al-Balach is that most of the international organization,
03:07including the WHO, they moved their operation to this area because it was relatively safe,
03:14maybe was the safest place in Gaza, I mean, since the Hamas attack in October the 7th.
03:21But in general, the situation across Gaza Strip is catastrophic when we talk about a humanitarian situation.
03:28Most of the people are suffering from starvation in northern Gaza.
03:32The Hamas RAN Health Ministry just said that two children died in two different hospitals
03:41because of the lack of food in Gaza City and one in Khan Yunis,
03:46bringing the number of people, died from hunger to 22 people.
03:51Overnight, there was about 15 people were killed near GHF center in central Gaza
03:57while queuing to get food.
04:00I spoke to a friend just about half an hour ago in Gaza and he said that he didn't eat with his,
04:09and his family didn't eat for the last 48 hours.
04:12He said because one bag of flour, one kilo of flour would cost you about 75 or 80 dollars.
04:19It's 200 times the original price of it.
04:22And Rushdie, you talked about speaking to a friend there.
04:25Can you explain to us how you are getting information?
04:27Because the BBC, like other major journalist organizations, is not allowed to operate within Gaza.
04:33We've had a statement today from the AFP news agency on how its sources are operating too
04:40and how they're struggling.
04:42So how are we getting the latest up-to-date information?
04:49Well, it is critically.
04:51I mean, it's very difficult to contact people in Gaza.
04:54Sometimes I spend like two hours trying to just make one phone call to people inside Gaza
05:01because of the lack of communication, lack of fuel.
05:04Most of the communication infrastructure is destroyed.
05:07You know, Israel did not allow foreign journalists in,
05:10but there are still hundreds of local Palestinian journalists
05:15who usually post in WhatsApp groups, belong to journalists.
05:20They post videos.
05:21They collect information from different places.
05:26And also there are some people who have SIM cards
05:29that are using Israeli network to access the Internet.
05:35Because, you know, we have a very long border with Israel.
05:38So the people who are close to this area, they can get some signals from Israeli operators in the area using SIM card.
05:49But, you know, it remains extremely difficult.
05:51And there is a lot of conflicting reports.
05:53And verifying the information is a real issue in Gaza.
05:57But we are trying all the time to talk to people across Gaza
06:02and just understand what's going on.
06:05This morning, there was also a significant strike in a beach camp in Western Gaza.
06:10Western Gaza now is the only area where about half of the population are located
06:15because there is general evacuation order for the north and the east of Gaza.
06:19So the airstrike killed about 14 people, I think among them three or four children,
06:25according to the Shifa Hospital in Gaza.
06:29About 46 people, according to Hamasran Civil Defence Agency, they were killed since midnight.
06:36OK, we will leave it there, Rushdie Aboualouf.
06:38Thank you very much for that update.
06:39Well, I'm joined now by Juliet Tuma, Communications Director at the UN Refugee Agency, UNRWA.
06:45Thank you for being with us.
06:47We are seeing increasing concern about the situation on the ground and concerns about starvation.
06:53We saw that very strongly worded letter from a number of countries released yesterday.
07:00What is the latest information that you have on how people are faring?
07:08Thanks for having me.
07:09I'm absolutely desperate.
07:11Gaza is a hell on earth.
07:14Our own staff at UNRWA are fainting while on duty due to hunger and exhaustion.
07:23Many of them were also forced to flee given the latest displacement order that your correspondent just spoke to.
07:33And the Israelis have said that they have urged UN agencies to work with their own operation.
07:43Is that something that you are able to engage with?
07:47No, because the system that's been put in place that's supported by both the governments of Israel and the United States is against the humanitarian principle and is totally unnecessary.
07:59In fact, it's taking more lives than saving lives.
08:04And we have a system in place.
08:05It's managed by the United Nations and has been supported by the statement that you mentioned by 25 foreign ministers.
08:15The system has been working during the ceasefire earlier this year.
08:20We've been bringing in 500 to 600 trucks a day.
08:24And this is the only reason why famine was averted earlier this year.
08:29We've got to go back to that.
08:30But when did that stop?
08:32And are you not operating with the Israeli arrangement because of practical concerns or because of principle?
08:41Because people will ask, well, isn't it better to get the food in somehow?
08:45Since the 2nd of March, when the Israeli authorities posed a tight siege on Gaza, UNRWA has not been allowed to bring in any trucks.
08:57We have 6,000 trucks in places like Jordan, like Egypt.
09:03There's no reason why these trucks cannot get in.
09:05We have staff on the ground, 10,000 of them, spread across the Gaza Strip, who will take that food, those other supplies, like hygiene supplies, like medicines, and give it to people in need.
09:18And at what stage do you think people now are?
09:22Because when we talk about starvation, how long can people survive under this current system?
09:29Because obviously people are appalled by the images and the stories that we are seeing and hearing.
09:35How critical is it now?
09:38We should be more than appalled.
09:40We've passed the threshold of being concerned or appalled many, many months ago.
09:46It's been 650 days of horror.
09:49It's been 650 days of nightmares for the people of Gaza, except it's real.
09:55The people of Gaza are being deliberately starved.
09:59And there should be a ceasefire, a deal, a release of the hostages, and a standard flow of humanitarian supplies managed by the UN, including UNRWA.
