Middle East crisis

Victims in Gaza
Expert on the report: “Participating in orchestrated famine”

The recent few food deliveries that have entered Gaza from Israel are being condemned as “sham maneuvers” that the outside world is participating in. That’s what expert Johan von Schreeb tells TT.

– Because that’s the only opportunity given. But then we’re also participating in an orchestrated famine, says von Schreeb, a professor of global disaster medicine at the Karolinska Institute.

He notes that the amount of food that does enter Gaza is too little, and as long as bombs continue to fall and emergency aid is blocked, there’s not much that can be done.

The UN-backed expert body IPC concluded in a report today that the worst level of famine prevails in several parts of Gaza. von Schreeb describes the report as “as close to the truth as we can get” and says that it will likely lead to an escalation of rhetoric, but that nothing is likely to happen.

–And then the situation is moved one step further. We are getting more and more people who are extremely vulnerable, he says.

UN chief: Can't let this continue with impunity

The UN declares famine in Gaza after the expert body IPC found that famine prevails, several media reports. 500,000 people are threatened with "catastrophic starvation".

UN Secretary-General António Guterres says in a statement that "we cannot allow the situation to continue with impunity". He also calls on the parties to reach a ceasefire and for humanitarian aid to be allowed to enter Gaza.

This is the first time ever that famine has been officially declared in the Middle East, the UN states, while criticizing Israel. Emergency aid chief Tom Fletcher says that the famine is due to Israel's "systematic obstruction" of emergency aid from entering Gaza.

Shortly after the IPC report was published, Israel stepped forward and denied the information. The country's Foreign Minister, Gideon Sa'ar, says that there is no famine and that the report is "based on Hamas' lies". 

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AP7 invests in Israeli company - manufactures white phosphorus: "May have been used in Gaza"

Pension money is invested in criticized Israeli company, reports Ekot.

This concerns the seventh AP fund, which owns shares worth SEK 100 million in ICL Group. The company manufactures white phosphorus, which is used in weapons, among other things.

According to Amnesty, several people believe that ICL's phosphorus has been used in Gaza and Lebanon. It has been confirmed that ICL has previously sold white phosphorus to the US military.

AP7's communications director Mikael Lindh Hök tells the radio that the fund will look into the matter more closely during the autumn, but that there are currently no plans to sell the holdings.

White phosphorus may be used to illuminate targets or lay smoke screens. But it must not be used as a firearm.