Israeli Army Fires on UN Aid Convoy
CrossFireArabia- July 21, 2025
The World Food Program (WFP) condemned the Israeli military for firing on a humanitarian convoy delivering food aid to northern Gaza on Sunday morning, calling the attack “completely unacceptable” and urging an immediate end to violence against civilians seeking life-saving assistance.
The 25-truck convoy had entered Gaza through the Zikim crossing carrying vital supplies when “the surrounding crowd came under fire from Israeli tanks, snipers and other gunfire,” the UN agency said in a statement.
“These people were simply trying to access food to feed themselves and their families on the brink of starvation,” it said, expressing deep sorrow over “the loss of countless lives” and many more suffering life-threatening injuries.
The WFP criticized the breach of prior assurances by Israeli authorities that humanitarian convoys would not face military engagement.
“There should never, ever, be armed groups near or on our aid convoys,” it stressed. “Shootings near humanitarian missions, convoys and food distributions must stop immediately.”
The agency warned that without safer conditions for aid operations, it may be forced to suspend deliveries across Gaza.
“WFP teams accompanying convoys should not have to risk their own lives in the effort to save others,” the statement said.
Highlighting Gaza’s deepening hunger crisis, the WFP said nearly one in three people are going days without food, with malnutrition surging among 90,000 women and children urgently needing treatment.
“We urgently call on the international community and all parties to advocate for, and facilitate, the delivery of life-saving food aid to starving populations inside Gaza — safely, securely, wherever families are, and without obstruction,” it added.
Gaza Starves As We Fill up!
- CrossFireArabia
- July 20, 2025
Residents of Gaza have criticized the international community online, citing its complicity and inaction in response to the Israeli-made blockade that has led to widespread starvation in the enclave, with people collapsing in the streets due to severe hunger.
Taking to social media, Gazans are sharing a unified message with the world: “We are dying of hunger” and “Gaza is starving.”
Journalist Anas al-Sharif wrote in X: “I have not stopped reporting for a single moment over the past 21 months. Today, I speak with deep pain and honesty: I am weakened by hunger, shaking from exhaustion, and constantly battling the urge to faint… Gaza is dying—and we are dying with it.”
“If the world does not act today, there may be no one left tomorrow to hope for rescue. Gaza is starving.”
Journalists also held a vigil to protest the Israeli suffocating blockade, chanting, “Gaza residents are dying of hunger.
Journalist Abdallah al-Attar wrote: “I’m a journalist writing this, and tears are falling from my eyes. I’m hungry, and there’s nothing to eat. This little girl, Amal Al-Bayouk, is dying of hunger right before our eyes. We appealed to the whole world to help her get treatment abroad, but no one listened! Every day, we say goodbye to a child because of hunger, and if things stay like this… it will be our turn next.”
Ahmed Jomaa, a YouTuber from Gaza, shared a photo of himself with a banner that reads, “Gaza is starving.
“If things keep going like this for a few more days, we’ll all starve to death,” photojournalist Omar El Qattaa wrote.
“During the first famine campaign by Israel in northern Gaza, people were eating animal feed and barley. But now, in this second famine, even that’s gone… And whatever is available, you need to take out a loan just to afford it every time you go to the market,” Samah Ahmed said.
“My son has been crying. He’s hungry. There’s not even any food to buy!” a desperate father screams in the middle of a market in Gaza.
Several videos circulating on social media show children in Gaza searching through rubbish for food. One video shows three children standing and eating from a pile of garbage on the street.
A mother posted a video of her little daughter crying for food, repeatedly saying “food, food,” and adding, “I will not forgive anyone complicit in our starvation.”
“We are living in a real famine,” 11-year-old Renad Attallah wrote on Instagram.
UNRWA: ‘Israel is Starving 1 Million Children’
- CrossFireArabia
- July 20, 2025
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) on Sunday once again accused Israeli authorities of using starvation as a weapon of war against the civilian population of Gaza.
In a statement on X, UNRWA said: “The Israeli Authorities are starving civilians in Gaza. Among them are 1 million children.”
It renewed its urgent call for the lifting of Israel’s ongoing siege, saying: “Lift the siege: allow UNRWA to bring in food and medicines,” as reported in Anadolu.
Despite international legal obligations to protect civilians and allow the delivery of aid, Israel has maintained a total siege on Gaza since March 2, bombing convoys, blocking border crossings, and targeting aid distribution points, actions that have been widely condemned as collective punishment and potential war crimes.
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, dozens of children have already died from starvation and dehydration, while hundreds of thousands more are at risk due to widespread food insecurity and the collapse of healthcare services.
On Saturday alone, Israeli strikes killed at least 136 Palestinians, including 38 individuals waiting for aid and three children who died from severe malnutrition, Palestinian official sources reported.
Israel has killed nearly 59,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in Gaza since October 2023. The relentless bombing has destroyed the enclave, almost collapsed the health system, and created famine-like conditions.
US Envoy Lashes Out at Israeli Settlers For Church Vandalism
- CrossFireArabia
- July 20, 2025
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee visited the Palestinian town of Taybeh on Saturday, days after a historic church there was attacked and vandalized by illegal Israeli settlers.
During his visit, Huckabee toured the site of Al-Khadr Church in the town, northeast of Ramallah in the central West Bank.
“Desecrating a church, mosque or synagogue is a crime against humanity and God,” the diplomat said on his X account.
He also emphasized that “when American citizens – Jewish, Muslim or Christian – are terrorized or victims of crime, I will demand those responsible be held accountable with real consequences.”
According to local reports, illegal settlers stormed the area around the centuries-old church last week, set fires in its surroundings, and brought livestock into the church compound as reported in Anadolu.
The town, home to many American citizens, has faced a surge in settler violence in recent weeks.
Attacks by illegal settlers have also targeted nearby Bedouin communities, as part of a broader escalation across the West Bank.
Palestinian authorities documented at least 2,153 illegal settler attacks in the occupied territory in the first half of this year alone, resulting in the killing of four Palestinians.
Since the start of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, nearly 1,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 7,000 injured in the West Bank by Israeli forces and illegal settlers, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
In a landmark opinion last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
