PLEASE READ THIS (critical new reports, urgent action needed)

Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) global partnership 21
December report on: .."the entire population in the Gaza Strip (about 2.2
million people) is classified in IPC Phase 3 or above (Crisis or worse).
This is the highest share of people facing high levels of acute food
insecurity that the IPC initiative has ever classified for any given area
or country.... at least one in four households (more than half a million
people) is facing catastrophic conditions - IPC Phase 5 (Catastrophe).
These are characterized by households experiencing an extreme lack of food,
starvation and exhaustion of coping capacities."
https://www.ipcinfo.org/ipc-country-analysis/details-map/en/c/1156749

Oxfam reaction to the IPC food security figures for Gaza: “While over 90
percent of people in Gaza cannot find their next meal, some UN Security
Council member states are still toying with words rather than voting for a
ceasefire."
https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/oxfam-reaction-ipc-food-security-figures-gaza

World Food Program: 2.2 million people in crisis or worse levels of acute
food insecurity in Gaza and 576,600 people face catastrophic hunger and
starvation in Gaza; 5.3 milion population of the state of Palestine (under
Israeli occupation, 1967 areas only) https://www.wfp.org/countries/palestine

World Health Organization: Hunger is ravaging Gaza, and this is expected to
increase illness across the Strip, most acutely among children, pregnant
and breastfeeding women, and older people.
https://www.who.int/news/item/21-12-2023-lethal-combination-of-hunger-and-disease-to-lead-to-more-deaths-in-gaza
WHO resolution (not supported by Israel and te US!)
https://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/EBSS7/EBSS7_R1-en.pdf

Both Christians and Muslims in Gaza will likely not resort to cannibalism
to survive starvation as happened in Ukraine during the 1930s famine
(eating dead corpses from the bombing and there are hundreds of those every
day).  A more serious problem in Gaza is also lack of potable water so
nearly half a million have developed diseases. Combined with lack of
medical services (only 9 hospitals of 36 remain open to offer only minimal
first aid services since doctors were abducted and medicines and tools to
offer important services are gone) and in any case there is no electricity
to operate equipment like drip machines, baby monitors, or kidney dialysis
machines).

Reliefweb on the cut off of water
https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/israeli-authorities-cutting-water-leading-public-health-crisis-gaza

See also this report from the Palestine Red Crescent Society covering 7
October - 20 December
https://www.palestinercs.org/public/files/image/2023/News/latestresponse23012023/en%20232%202023.pdf

I fasted yesterday Thursday and hundreds of thousands pledged to fast every
Thursday (sunrise to sunset) to remind us of this unprecedented  starvation
of Gaza used as an instrument of occupation (I do not say war because war
involves two armies, here you have an army fighting a small guerrilla
resistance force in an illegally occupied and besieged territory).

ACTION to demand ICRC fulfil its mission: Under pressure from the Zionist
lobby, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and especially
its US branch speak and talk of needing access to some 120 "hostages"
(prisoners) held by Resistance Forces (number shrinking as Israel carpet
bombs the Gaza Strip). Meanwhile the ICRC is not fulfilling its mission. It
is not pressing Israel to allow ICRC staff to visit the 11,500 Palestinian
prisoners/"hostages" held by Israel. Here in the West Bank, over 4000 were
abducted in the last two months including friends of mine who
practice non-violent resistance such as Munther Amira and Anas Abu Srour
from the Refugee camp youth groups.  No lawyers are allowed to visit most
of them (Israel uses the internationally banned "administrative detention"
allowed by Israeli apartheid laws for use on thousands). ICRC is not
protecting medical personnel (hundreds were killed or injured, over 200
abducted).  Most of those are being tortured, mistreated, denied food etc
(6 already died in the last month from torture). In one case admitted
to by Israel, 19 Israeli soldiers beat a prisoner to death. Please write to
ICRC and to your government to demand they insist on stopping the random
collection and torture of civilians, follow international law, and protect
hospitals and medical facilities and restore those bombed by Israel. See
this earlier Amnesty International Report (things got much worse since
then)
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/11/israel-opt-horrifying-cases-of-torture-and-degrading-treatment-of-palestinian-detainees-amid-spike-in-arbitrary-arrests
Human Rights Watch
https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/11/29/why-does-israel-have-so-many-palestinians-detention-and-available-swap
https://www.972mag.com/palestinians-abused-israeli-prisons-torture/
PLEASE Write to the ICRC: https://www.icrc.org/en/contact

And as you gather around your family meals...do remember that Christians
and Muslims in Gaza (and increasingly here in the West Bank) are going
through unimaginable horror (massacres and genocide - see ongaza.org). Pray
and act for us and for humanity because they are thinking of expanding this
starvation and blockade to other countries (primarily Lebanon and Yemen and
soon others).

Your and our collective actions especially in western countries shortens
this nightmare and thus saves lives.

Stay human and keep Palestine alive

Mazin Qumsiyeh
A bedouin in cyberspace, a villager at home
Professor, Founder, and (volunteer) Director
Palestine Museum of Natural History
Palestine Institute of Biodiversity and Sustainability
Bethlehem University
Occupied Bethlehem, Occupied Palestine
http://qumsiyeh.org