Part of Gaza Strip famine | |
![]() Image of al-Kafarneh immediately following his death. | |
![]() Location in the Gaza Strip. | |
Date | March 4, 2024 |
---|---|
Location | Mohammed Yousef El-Najar Hospital, Rafah, Gaza Strip, Palestine |
Coordinates | 31°17′49.1″N34°14′37.5″E / 31.296972°N 34.243750°E |
Type | Starvation |
Deaths | Yazan al-Kafarneh |
Yazan al-Kafarneh (Arabic: يزن الكفارنة) was a Palestinian boy with cerebral palsy who died from malnourishment on 4 March 2024, aged 10. He died during the ongoing Gaza Strip famine caused by the tightening of the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip during the Israel-Hamas war. He became a face for the children in Gaza and the Gaza Strip famine, with his image used by politicians and international organizations. [1] [2]
Malnutrition screening conducted in the northern Gaza Strip in January 2024 by UNICEF and the World Food Programme found that nearly 16% of all children under the age of two were acutely malnourished with similar testing, finding at least 5% of children in Rafah under the age of two experiencing malnutrition. [1]
The crisis derives from Israeli airstrikes that have destroyed food infrastructure, and a widespread scarcity of essential supplies, [3] combined with the ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip and limited humanitarian aid. On 3 January 2024, Arif Husain, the chief economist at the World Food Programme, stated 80 percent of all people in the world experiencing famine or catastrophic hunger were in the Gaza Strip, stating, "In my life, I’ve never seen anything like this in terms of severity". [4]
The same month, head of Israel's COGAT Colonel Moshe Tetro, who facilitates humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, claimed that there was no food shortage in Gaza. [5]
Al-Kafarneh lived with his family in Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza before the war with his family able to provide him enough food, water and medical care. [6] Likely due to his condition al-Kafarneh would have had to have a specialized diet made up of soft and highly nutritional foods. [2] However multiple Israeli airstrikes caused the family to relocate several times and in an effort to find him better care, food and water the family relocated to Rafah in southern Gaza which had been deemed a safe area by the Israeli government. [1]
In images taken before al-Kafarneh died, he is described by New York Times reporters as having flesh that is shrunken and shriveled, that is pallid and stretched tight over every curve of bone and sagging with every hollow. One of the more widely shared photos of him online, shows his right hand with an intravenous line. [2] [7]
His image and death were utilized in a speech at the UN General Assembly in New York, by the Palestine representative to the UN, Riyad Mansour. Mansour stated that his death was due to Israel using starvation as a weapon of war, and called for the end of Israeli impunity. [8] Photos of al-Kafarneh were reposted online by activists, journalists, and Palestinian supporters, to bring a human face to the humanitarian disaster in Gaza due to the ongoing offensive, issues with humanitarian aid delivery, and potential famine. [7] An Al Jazeera video report highlighting the lack of food and plight of civilians in the Gaza Strip was made in front of al-Kafarneh's body as it was being prepared for burial, showing his emaciated body. [9]
The 2004 Israeli operation in the northern Gaza Strip took place when the Israel Defense Forces launched Operation "Days of Penitence", otherwise known as Operation "Days of Repentance" in the northern Gaza Strip. The operation lasted between 29 September and 16 October 2004. About 130 Palestinians, and 1 Israeli were killed.
Al-Mawasi is a fertile area for agriculture in the Gaza Strip. It is along the coast and has many sand dunes. Al-Mawasi is fourteen kilometers long and one kilometer wide, making up about 3% of the Gaza Strip. It is a Palestinian Bedouin town and prior to the 2005 unilateral Israeli disengagement from the Gaza Strip, it was a Palestinian enclave within the Israeli settlements of Gush Katif. Al-Mawasi had a population of 1,409 in the middle of 2006. Prior to the Israel–Hamas war, al-Mawasi had a population of 9,000. It has a number of buildings with a maximum of 100 structures.
The Rafah Border Crossing or Rafah Crossing Point is the sole crossing point between Egypt and Palestine's Gaza Strip. It is located on the Egypt–Palestine border. Under a 2007 agreement between Egypt and Israel, Egypt controls the crossing but imports through the Rafah crossing require Israeli approval.
The restrictions on movement and goods in Gaza imposed by Israel date to the early 1990s. After Hamas took over in 2007, Israel significantly intensified existing movement restrictions and imposed a complete blockade on the movement of goods and people in and out of the Gaza Strip. In the same year, Egypt closed the Rafah crossing point. The blockade's current stated aim is to prevent the smuggling of weapons into Gaza; previously stated motivations have included exerting economic pressure on Hamas. Human rights groups have called the blockade illegal and a form of collective punishment, as it restricts the flow of essential goods, contributes to economic hardship, and limits Gazans' freedom of movement. The blockade and its effects have led to the territory being called an "open-air prison".
The year 2023 in Israel was defined first by wide-scale protests against a proposed judicial reform, and then by the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, which led to a war and to Israel invading the Gaza Strip.
On 9 October 2023, Israel intensified the blockade of the Gaza Strip after the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel and the ensuing Israel–Hamas war when it announced a "total blockade", blocking the entry of food, water, medicine, fuel and electricity.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the Wikipedia articles available about the Gaza war. It is an evolving list.
During the Israel–Hamas war, the Israeli military ordered mass evacuations in Gaza, resulting in one of the largest displacements of Palestinians since 1948. On 13 October 2023, just one week after Hamas' attack on Israel, Israel instructed 1.1 million Gazans north of the Wadi Gaza, including those in Gaza City, to evacuate within 24 hours. This evacuation triggered a humanitarian crisis, which Palestinians have compared to the Nakba of 1948.
The Gaza Strip is experiencing a humanitarian crisis as a result of the Israel–Hamas war. The crisis includes both an impending famine and a healthcare collapse. At the start of the war, Israel tightened its blockade on the Gaza Strip, which has resulted in significant shortages of fuel, food, medication, water, and essential medical supplies. This siege resulted in a 90% drop in electricity availability, impacting hospital power supplies, sewage plants, and shutting down the desalination plants that provide drinking water. Doctors warned of disease outbreaks spreading due to overcrowded hospitals.
Events in the year 2024 in Palestine.
The following is a list of events during the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in 2024, including the events of the Israel–Hamas war.
The population of the Gaza Strip is at high risk of famine as a result of Israeli airstrikes during the Gaza war and an Israeli blockade, including of basic essentials and humanitarian aid. Airstrikes have destroyed food infrastructure, such as bakeries, mills, and food stores, and there is a widespread scarcity of essential supplies due to the blockade of aid. According to a group of UN experts, as of July 2024 Israel's "targeted starvation campaign" had spread throughout the entire Gaza Strip, causing the death of children. Israel's mission to the UN criticized the statement, calling it "misinformation". The same month, detected cases of childhood malnutrition in northern Gaza increased by 300 percent compared to May 2024.
As a result of the Gaza war, children have been disproportionately impacted in the Gaza Strip, where 40% of the population is 14 or under. In November 2023, UNICEF reported that more than 700,000 children in Gaza were displaced. A dire humanitarian crisis, with reports of children suffering from a serious epidemic of gastroenteritis due to the lack of clean water, led to concerns amongst health officials and aid organizations. Speaking to reporters early in the conflict, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned that "Gaza is becoming a graveyard for children. Hundreds of girls and boys are reportedly being killed or injured every day." As of August 2024, at least 115 newborns had been reported killed since October 2023.
During the Gaza war, humanitarian aid entered into the Gaza Strip via air, land and sea. Early in the war, significant issues arose with humanitarian aid. Israel's initial blockade on Gaza, immediately following the October 7 attacks, prevented the entry of humanitarian aid for several weeks. As the war progressed, aid was allowed at limited quantities. Entities such as Oxfam, the European Union, United Kingdom, and United Nations stated that Israel is deliberately blocking humanitarian aid. These limitations have contributed to a severe humanitarian crisis and a risk of famine. Israeli airstrikes and continued restrictions on aid entry led to widespread shortages of food and supplies. Distribution of aid within Gaza has also been an issue, as police have refused to protect aid convoy after airstrikes killed eight police in Rafah.
There has been extensive environmental damage caused by the ongoing Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, including the destruction of agricultural land, displacement of people, bombing of Gaza, the Israeli blockade, and famine in the Gaza Strip. By March 2024, nearly half of tree cover and farmland in Gaza had been destroyed.
During the Gaza war, societal and institutional breakdown occurred across the Gaza Strip caused by continual military assaults by the Israeli Defense Forces on Palestinian law enforcement institutions as well as widespread starvation, famine, and lack of essential supplies created by the conflict and blockade of the Gaza Strip. Due to significant destabilization caused by military conflict and the ongoing Gaza humanitarian crisis, the United Nations reported in July 2024 that significant increases in looting, killing of law enforcement and humanitarian workers expanded across the Gaza Strip, and were emblematic of greater societal breakdown and spreading "anarchy" throughout the enclave.
The Israeli blockade of aid delivery to the Gaza Strip is an Israeli act of protest that began on January 24, 2024, in which demonstrators protested against the entry of humanitarian aid trucks into the Gaza Strip. The demonstrators prevented the passage of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip at the Kerem Shalom crossing, at the Nitzana crossing, at the Port of Ashdod, and on the roads that aid trucks traveled on.
Gaza Soup Kitchen is a grassroots organization that was established in Beit Lahia, Gaza, to provide food for Palestinians at risk of famine during the Israel-Hamas War. Founded in early 2024 by brothers Hani and Mahmoud Almadhoun, Mahmoud coordinated activities on the ground while Hani supported the organization from the United States through online fundraising. In April 2024, they reported serving 3,000 people a day, but as of November, their operations have been severely impacted by the lack of humanitarian aid in Gaza. On November 30, the Gaza Soup Kitchen announced that Mahmoud had been killed in an Israeli drone strike that morning.