Gaza famine worsens after aid route closure

CAIRO: Since Israel shut a vital corridor into famine-stricken northern Gaza before escalating its ground offensive this month, community kitchens and health clinics have closed and vital flows of food have slowed, residents and UN agencies say.
The Zikim Crossing was shut on September 12, days ahead of an Israeli ground offensive on Gaza City in the north of the territory, prompting warnings from aid agencies.
Since then, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said it had not managed to bring any supplies through Zikim, previously the route for half its food deliveries into Gaza.
The number of daily meals served as aid in northern Gaza had dropped to 59,000 as of September 22 from 155,000 as of August 30, as some kitchens serving the free meals shut, according to Amjad al Shawa, head of the Palestinian NGOs Network and UN data.
Residents say conditions are getting worse. Hundreds of thousands have been displaced by the latest offensive, though others have stayed put despite Israeli evacuation orders, citing fears about security and hunger if they move.
'The situation is becoming more difficult', said Um Zaki, a mother of five who has stayed in Sabra, Gaza City, describing rising food prices and increasing scarcity. 'People who sell things like food... have left to the south', she said.
Ismail Zayda, a 40-year-old with a week-old baby girl and two young boys displaced from Gaza City to a camp near the coast, said he was making ends meet with canned supplies.
'There are no vegetables at all', he said.
Gaza City municipality says it also faces a worsening water crisis, with supplies meeting less than 25% of daily needs. Fuel shortages and security risks have curtailed water deliveries.
Israel says there is no quantitative limit on food aid entering Gaza and accuses Hamas, which it has been at war with for nearly two years, of stealing aid — accusations the Palestinian group denies.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump said he was close to forging a deal to end the war in Gaza and bring hostages home as he prepared to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday.
'It's looking like we have a deal on Gaza. I think it's a deal that gets the hostages back, it's going to be a deal that ends the war', Trump told reporters on Friday before leaving the White House to attend the Ryder Cup golf tournament in New York.
He offered no details and gave no timetable.
A senior White House official said that Trump will meet Netanyahu on Monday at the White House with the aim of reaching a framework for a deal. Netanyahu spoke at the United Nations General Assembly on Friday.
Netanyahu sharply denounced Western countries for embracing Palestinian statehood, accusing them of sending the message that 'murdering Jews pays off'. — Reuters