Food & Climate
Israel is punishing the hungry in Gaza by killing anyone who approaches food distribution centers, on the orders of some military leaders. Meanwhile, the United States has imposed sanctions on Sudan, which will exacerbate the famine in the country, which has been under the pressure of a civil conflict for more than two years, despite exempting food aid.
The hungry in Gaza and Sudan is the most prominent and worst hunger crisis in the world, due to the prolonged conflict in both countries, the massive number of displaced people and those trapped in their locations, and the continued unabated killing machine.
A newspaper report published in Hebrew and English quoting Israeli soldiers saying commanders have ordered them to shoot at unarmed hungry crowds of people in Gaza trying to reach food distribution sites prompted a scathing response by Israel’s prime minister on Friday, according to a report seen by “Food & Climate” platform.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz issued a joint statement calling the Haaretz report “blood libel.”
“These are malicious falsehoods designed to defame the IDF [Israel Defense Forces], the most moral military in the world,” they added.
500 people have been killed while seeking food aid
Gaza’s Health Ministry says more than 500 people have been killed and more than 4,000 wounded by Israeli forces while seeking food aid in the past month.
The Haaretz report quotes multiple anonymous Israeli soldiers describing what they say are the military’s attacks on people trying to get food aid in Gaza since May 27. The soldiers say they were ordered by commanders to fire at unarmed civilians who were approaching food distribution sites during off hours, even when the crowds posed no threat.
The report is the latest to shed light on what aid workers and critics say is a flawed plan by Israel to control food in Gaza after 11 weeks of full Israeli blockade and continued restrictions on the entry of aid into the territory. This week, for the first time in months, the United Nations was able to bring in some medical supplies into Gaza, according to “NPR”.
On May 12, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) warned of famine in Gaza.
It said: “Famine in Gaza is approaching. With the imminent and complete collapse of agriculture and the potential outbreak of deadly epidemics in the Strip. FAO is calling for immediate humanitarian access and the lifting of the blockade.
This urgent call follows the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis, warning that the entire population of approximately 2.1 million people is at risk of famine in Gaza after 19 months of conflict, mass displacement, and severe restrictions on humanitarian access.
According to the report, between April 1 and May 10, 2025, 93% of the population, or 1.95 million people, were classified as being in Crisis or worse (IPC Phase 3 or above), including 244,000 people, or 12% of the population, in IPC Phase 5 (Catastrophe), and 925,000 people (44%) in IPC Phase 4 (Emergency).
U.S. sanctions targeting Sudan’s government
The United States State Department announced on Friday new sanctions against the Sudanese government, accusing it of deploying chemical weapons last year in its ongoing conflict with rival paramilitaries.
This accusation adds to widespread allegations of war crimes in the conflict, which began in April 2023, and follows a US determination in January that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) had committed genocide.
In May, the State Department informed Congress of its finding that “the Government of Sudan used chemical weapons in 2024,” a violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, which Khartoum ratified in 1999.
While Washington did not provide specific details on the timing or location of these alleged chemical attacks, Sudan’s army-aligned government immediately denied the accusations, labelling them “baseless” and “political blackmail.”
The new US sanctions, which were initially slated to take effect on June 6, will restrict US exports and financing to Sudan.
However, urgent humanitarian aid will be exempt, a crucial consideration given that nearly 25 million people in Sudan are facing severe food insecurity in what is described as the world’s largest hunger crisis.
This is not the first time Sudan’s army has faced such allegations. In January, The New York Times reported that the Sudanese army had used chemical weapons at least twice in the war, citing four anonymous senior US officials who claimed chlorine was the agent used, with the direct approval of army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, according to “News Central”.
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