Middle East & Africa | Intentionally or by negligence?

Gaza is on the brink of a man-made famine

Israel and Hamas reject a ceasefire even as people starve

Palestinians hold out empty containers to be filled with food in Rafah, Gaza
Photograph: Getty Images
|JERUSALEM

AS American ships were crossing the Atlantic to build a humanitarian pier in Gaza, American diplomats withheld their veto when the UN Security Council voted on March 25th for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas during the month of Ramadan, which ends on April 9th. America’s dispatch of ships and this diplomatic rebuke reflect the growing frustration of President Joe Biden’s administration with Israel’s conduct of the war as well as wider concerns that many of Gaza’s 2.2m inhabitants will starve unless they get urgent aid.

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This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “On the brink of man-made famine”

From the March 30th 2024 edition

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