Josep Borrell, the head of EU foreign policy, claimed that Israel was using malnutrition as a “weapon of war” and described the humanitarian situation in Gaza as “not a natural disaster.” Borrell declared at the UN Security Council on Tuesday, “This is a man-made crisis.” “We must remember this when we search for alternate means of supplying support by air or sea: starvation is being used as a weapon of mass destruction, and the natural means of supplying support to roads is being closed, albeit artificially closed.” In an attempt to provide a sea route for the desperately required delivery of relief to the war-torn Palestinian enclave, a Spanish humanitarian boat carrying food to Gaza departed Cyprus.
A representative for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) stated on Friday that the organisation encourages the equitable settlement of all election-related conflicts and will assist Pakistan in developing a new economic plan if the incoming administration requests one. The cash-strapped country struggled with an unpredictable election on February 8 that postponed the establishment of a coalition government until Monday, when Shehbaz Sharif, the new prime minister, took office. A new finance minister has not yet been chosen. According to an email from the Fund representative, “We look forward to engaging with the new government to complete the second review under the current stand-by arrangement and, should the government request, support the formulation of a new medium-term economic programme.”
On this Friday, International Women’s Day, the suffering and mistreatment of Kashmiri women by Indian forces, law enforcement, and agencies persist unabatedly in Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). On the occasion of World Women’s Day, Kashmir Media Service reported that 96,290 individuals from IIOJK have been slain by Indian military soldiers since January 1989, including thousands of women. Since January 2001, at least 685 women have been killed by the armed forces. The report highlighted that 22,973 women become bereaved as a result of Indian state terrorism. 11,263 women were sexually assaulted or humiliated by members of the occupation forces. It claimed that 17-year-old Aasiya Jan and her sister-in-law Neelofar Jan had been murdered in a Kunanposhpora mass rape and a Shopian double rape.
The UN’s Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), Jamie McGoldrick, stated after a two-day visit to the war-torn Gaza that “Hunger has reached catastrophic levels.” “Children are dying from hunger,” he said via videolink to reporters in New York, amid reports from the media that at least 20 children—including a 14-day-old baby—have perished in the besieged and battered enclave due to starvation. He demanded a strategy to deal with the situation and stated that one of the first things that needed to be done was to allow at least 300 relief trucks per day to use a military route to enter northern Gaza. Ever since the Israeli invasion started on October 7, the enclave’s hunger has increased dramatically.
Michael Fakhri, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, has demanded penalties on Israel, claiming that the besieged Gaza Strip may already be experiencing a possible famine. Human rights specialist Fakhri sounded the alarm upon hearing that a tenth kid had perished from malnutrition. He claimed that since October 8, Israel has been purposefully starving the Palestinian population in Gaza in a post on X, the former Twitter. In order to advocate for a ceasefire, he urged for penalties on Israel and emphasised that an urgent ceasefire is necessary to stop or avoid the hunger. There must be an urgent truce in order to stop or avoid this starvation. Furthermore, Fakhri stated that sanctioning Israel is the only way to achieve a ceasefire.
According to a State Department Spokesperson, Pakistan’s efforts to “break free” from the cycle of debt and financing are supported by the United States, and the new government is encouraged to maintain collaboration with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other international financial organisations. Spokesperson Mathew Miller stated at his daily news conference on Wednesday that “Pakistan’s new government must immediately prioritise the economic situation because the policies over the next several months will be crucial to maintaining economic stability for Pakistanis.” The spokesperson was reacting to a query over a letter that former Pakistan Terrorism Institute Chairman Imran Khan had written to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), proposing to tie the next loan facility to an examination of the nation’s general elections scheduled for February 8.
Pakistan has demanded that Israel halt its planned attack on Rafah, claiming that doing so will worsen the situation for the Palestinians living in Gaza and perhaps escalate the conflict. The deputy permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN, Ambassador Usman Jadoon, stated to the UN Security Council, “Israel’s planned offensive in Rafah must be stopped,” stressing the danger of starvation. The Pakistani envoy also issued a dire warning about the impending danger of famine in the Gaza Strip, citing Israel’s ongoing five-month military campaign in Gaza, which has resulted in the deaths of 30,000 Palestinians, the majority of whom were women and children, the displacement of all 2.3 million residents of Gaza, and the starvation of half a million people. Israeli soldiers have blatantly damaged agricultural land in Gaza in addition to levelling its cities, exacerbating the already grave situation.