Hamas: "Famine in Gaza reaches catastrophic level"

Hunger in the Gaza Strip has reached catastrophic levels due to the ongoing blockade of the enclave. This is stated in a Hamas statement posted on the radical movement’s Telegram channel.

“Famine in Gaza has reached catastrophic levels due to the ongoing suffocating blockade by the Zionist army. The fascist occupation government’s use of hunger as a weapon and the deprivation of the Gazan people of their basic necessities as an instrument of genocide, which has been ongoing for more than 21 months, is one of the gravest crimes in modern history against innocent children and civilians,” the statement said.

Hamas called on the international community to take immediate measures to lift the Israeli blockade.

“We demand that the Arab-Islamic countries and the UN take immediate measures to lift the blockade, ensure unhindered access for food and humanitarian aid, and stop the massacres, genocide, and famine,” the Palestinian movement stressed.

As Qatar's Al Jazeera reported earlier this week, the Israeli blockade has pushed 2.1 million people in Gaza to the brink of starvation.