Israeli aid blockade passes 50-day mark as Gaza becomes ‘land of desperation’

GENEVA

The United Nations warned on April 22 that Gaza was facing deepening hunger 50 days into a total Israeli blockade on all aid entering the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.

"Gaza has become a land of desperation," Philippe Lazzarini, head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA, said on X.

"Hunger is spreading and deepening, deliberate and manmade."

After 18 months of devastating war and an Israeli blockade on aid since March 2, the U.N. has warned of a dire humanitarian situation for the 2.4 million inhabitants of the Palestinian territory.

The heads of 12 major aid organizations warned last week that "famine is not just a risk, but likely rapidly unfolding in almost all parts" of the territory.

"You can see a clear tendency towards total disaster," Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN humanitarian agency OCHA told reporters in Geneva Tuesday.

"It is true that right now is probably the worst humanitarian situation we have seen throughout the war in Gaza."

In his post on X, Lazzarini questioned "how much longer until hollow words of condemnation will translate

into action to lift the siege, resume a ceasefire and save whatever is left of humanity?"

The UNRWA chief decried that 2 million people in Gaza, most of them women and children, "are undergoing collective punishment.”

The warnings came as a Hamas delegation departed for Cairo to discuss "new ideas" aimed at securing a ceasefire in Gaza.

According to BBC, Mediators Egypt and Qatar have made a new proposal for a yearslong truce and full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

The reported offer includes a ceasefire of between five and seven years, a formal end to the war, a complete Israeli pullout from Gaza and the release of “all Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.”

Arab media reports also claimed that Hamas seeks to convey its ceasefire plan to U.S. President Donald Trump via Türkiye.

Israel ‘won’t allow caliphate’

In the meantime, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country “will not allow a caliphate to be established in the Mediterranean.”

Speaking at a memorial ceremony in the city of Jaffa, Netanyahu addressed the attacks Israel has launched in various countries in the region, especially in the Gaza Strip.

Claiming that they still have a lot to accomplish, the premier said, “We know what we are fighting for.”

“We know who we are up against. We will not allow the establishment of a caliphate a few kilometers away on the Mediterranean coast.”

Netanyahu asserted that Israel must "complete its mission" in order to ensure its survival.

Netanyahu also touched on internal political debates in Israel, saying, “There will be no civil war in Israel.”