In Gaza at Ramadan, starvation adds to death toll, despair as Israel-Hamas talks reach impasse

With ceasefire talks stalled, fears are growing that events will ‘spiral out of control’ in Gaza, where a looming humanitarian crisis is unfolding

Deaths from malnutrition and dehydration are starting to add to the tens of thousands of Palestinians already killed, as Israel vows to press on

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Israel-Gaza war: fears grow of an impending humanitarian disaster at Ramadan as ceasefire talks stall. Image: SCMP

Published: 12:00pm, 16 Mar 2024Updated: 7:36pm, 19 Mar 2024

The international community is holding its breath following the failure of prolonged negotiations between Israel and Hamas to agree on a truce in Gaza during Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting that began on March 11.

Several rounds of talks have been mediated by Qatar, which hosts Hamas’ political leadership, and Egypt, which borders Israel and Gaza, but they broke down on March 7 with neither side prepared to back down from their demands.

As the talks faltered, US President Joe Biden warned “there’s got to be a ceasefire because … if we get into circumstances where this [fighting] continues to Ramadan, Israel and Jerusalem could be very, very dangerous.”

A Palestinian man reads the Koran as he waits to break his fast on Wednesday while sitting amid the rubble of his house, which was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike, in northern Gaza. Photo: Reuters

Jerusalem is considered a powder keg during Ramadan because of deep religious sensitivities about access to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, Islam’s third holiest shrine after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.

Known and revered in Judaism as Temple Mount, the compound in East Jerusalem is also believed to be the site of the biblical Solomon’s Temple.

During the recent negotiations, Hamas made any further release of the scores of hostages kidnapped during its unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7 conditional upon an Israeli commitment to end hostilities in Gaza and withdraw its forces.

The Hamas-led attack left around 1,200 Israeli soldiers and civilians dead and 253 people taken hostage. Israel believes that Hamas still holds 99 of its nationals hostage, along with the bodies of 31 others. Some 105 hostages were released by Hamas during a brief pause in the fighting in November in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners.

In Gaza at Ramadan, starvation adds to death toll, despair as Israel-Hamas talks reach impasse

With ceasefire talks stalled, fears are growing that events will ‘spiral out of control’ in Gaza, where a looming humanitarian crisis is unfolding Deaths from malnutrition and dehydration are starting to add to the tens of thousands of Palestinians already killed, as Israel vows to press on

With ceasefire talks stalled, fears are growing that events will ‘spiral out of control’ in Gaza, where a looming humanitarian crisis is unfolding

Deaths from malnutrition and dehydration are starting to add to the tens of thousands of Palestinians already killed, as Israel vows to press on