Palestinian children trying to get food in Rafah refugee camp (European News Agency)

On the 138th day of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, the humanitarian situation worsened, and the specter of famine became a nightmare looming over the residents of the Strip, as the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffiths, warned that half a million people in Gaza were on the verge of famine.

On the ground, the occupation army suffered losses during fierce battles that took place in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood in Gaza City, and the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), announced that it had killed Israeli soldiers in Khan Yunis.

The occupation continued to target residential areas after committing several massacres in the Gaza Strip during the past hours. It also carried out a new military operation in the Jenin camp in the West Bank, resulting in martyrs.

On the Lebanese front, mutual bombardment continued, as Hezbollah announced that it had targeted Israeli military sites with guided missiles and barracks in the occupied Shebaa Farms.

Gaza is on the brink of imminent famine (Reuters)

Imminent famine

In turn, the Director General of the Government Information Office in the Gaza Strip, Ismail Al-Thawabta, said that the citizens of the northern Strip have been eating animal feed for 3 weeks, and it is no longer available.

Al-Thawabta warned of a real humanitarian catastrophe in which hundreds of thousands of citizens would fall victim if the world did not intervene to force Israel to bring humanitarian aid into the Strip.

For his part, the Director of the World Food Program in the Palestinian Territories expressed his deep concern about the security situation in the Gaza Strip, especially in the north, which needs humanitarian aid to avoid a disaster.

He added that the residents of the Gaza Strip suffer from a lack of hope, and the program is in urgent need of a truce or ceasefire in the Strip to deliver urgent food aid to those who need it to avoid the imminent famine catastrophe.

Martin Griffiths warned of an imminent famine affecting half a million people in the besieged Strip (European News Agency)

Griffith warns

Martin Griffiths, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, said that half a million people in Gaza are on the brink of famine, and lack the most basic needs of food, water and health care.

Griffiths said - in an article published on Al Jazeera Net in its Arabic version and on the Brazilian newspaper Folia in Portuguese - that the deprivation suffered by the people of Gaza is harsh and profound, and any amount of aid will not be sufficient for their needs, noting that Israel, as the occupying power in Gaza, has been asked to facilitate the arrival of aid, no avail.

He stressed that entire neighborhoods in the Gaza Strip had been wiped out, and he appealed to the members of the “Group of 20” on the occasion of their meeting in Brazil to use their political positions and influence to help stop this war and save the people of Gaza, stressing that these members have the ability to make a difference, and asked them to use it.

He added that what has been unfolding in Gaza for 137 days is unparalleled in its intensity, brutality and scope. Tens of thousands of people were killed, injured or buried under the rubble. Entire neighborhoods were destroyed to the ground. Hundreds of thousands of displaced people are living in the harshest conditions with the arrival of winter. Half a million people are on the brink of famine. Basic needs are inaccessible: food, water, health care and toilets. The entire population is stripped of their humanity.

Resistance operations

The Palestinian resistance is waging battles with the occupation forces in the Zaytoun neighborhood in Gaza City, and the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), announced the killing of 7 Israeli soldiers and targeting two groups barricaded in two houses west of Khan Yunis, killing and wounding their members.

Al Jazeera also showed scenes it obtained of the fierce battles between the Al-Qassam Brigades and the Israeli occupation army in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, east of Gaza City, and the scenes showed the targeting of Israeli military vehicles with anti-tank missiles, as well as a sniper operation by one of the occupation army snipers.

The Al-Qassam Brigades said that it "targeted two Zionist vehicles with two shells, Al-Yassin 105, west of the Al-Amal neighborhood in the city of Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip."

Al-Qassam added that it targeted an Israeli Merkava tank with a “Shawaz” explosive device in the Al-Hawuz area, west of Khan Yunis.

For its part, the Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad movement, said that it bombed with mortar shells gatherings of Israeli occupation forces in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, east of Gaza City.

For 5 months, fierce battles have been taking place between the Palestinian resistance and the Israeli occupation forces in the Khan Yunis Governorate, south of the Gaza Strip, in conjunction with non-stop air and artillery bombardment.

Martyrs in the West Bank

The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced the death of a Palestinian child by occupation bullets in the town of Azzun in the Qalqilya Governorate in the northern West Bank.

The Ministry added that the child, Saji Saeed Suleiman (16 years old), was hit in the heart by live occupation bullets.

Al Jazeera's correspondent previously said that a Palestinian was martyred by Israeli occupation bullets in the Jenin camp, where clashes renewed between the Palestinian resistance and the occupation soldiers.

The reporter also reported that the Israeli occupation forces stormed the town of Al-Samou, south of Hebron, and raided a number of homes. They also stormed the town of Kafr Qaddum, north of the West Bank, and surrounded a house.

During their storming of the city of Jenin, the occupation forces intercepted an ambulance (Al Jazeera)

Lebanon Front

The Israeli occupation forces intensified their bombing of villages and towns in southern Lebanon, killing civilians and wounding three others. The Al Jazeera correspondent said that Israeli raids targeted the towns of Khiam and Marwahin in southern Lebanon, and two Israeli raids targeted the vicinity of the town of Majdal Zoun.

For its part, Hezbollah announced - today, Wednesday - targeting positions of occupation soldiers in several settlements in northern Israel.

The party said that it targeted a military site of Israeli soldiers in the settlement of Evin Menachem and another in the settlement of Shomira, and achieved a direct hit on both of them.

He added that he targeted two buildings containing Israeli soldiers in the Avivim colony, and he also investigated them with direct hits.

Since October 8, the Israeli-Lebanese border has witnessed mutual bombardment between the occupation army on the one hand and the Lebanese Hezbollah and Palestinian factions on the other, amid regional and international warnings that the situation on the border is developing into a broader war.

Calls for a ceasefire

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said it is necessary to get more aid into Gaza to create conditions for a sustainable and real ceasefire in the Strip.

Sunak added in his speech before the British House of Commons that it is not in anyone’s interest to call for an immediate and complete ceasefire in Gaza that collapses within days or weeks, he said.

For his part, Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Eide stressed that there is now a need for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the strengthening of humanitarian work.

Eddy said, "I deeply regret the failure of the Security Council once again to live up to its responsibilities towards the humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip, despite the constructive efforts of many."

The Chinese Foreign Ministry also said that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is very serious, and the Security Council must take measures to strengthen the ceasefire.

The Houthis launch attacks on Israeli ships or those heading to and from Israel in solidarity with Gaza (French)

The Red Sea

Media sources affiliated with the Ansar Allah Houthi group in Yemen said, “An American-British aggression targeted the Ras Issa area in the Al-Salif District, north of Hodeidah, with 3 air strikes.”

Since the beginning of this year, the coalition - led by Washington - has launched raids that it says target "Houthi sites" in various regions of Yemen, in response to its attacks against Israeli ships in the Red Sea in solidarity with Gaza.

Reuters also quoted the British Maritime Trade Operations Authority as saying that today, Wednesday, it received a report of increased drone activity 40 nautical miles west of the Yemeni city of Hodeidah, where the Houthis are attacking Israeli cargo ships heading to or coming from Israel in protest against Israeli military operations in Gaza.

Source: Al Jazeera