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Gaza has been under total blockade by Israel for nearly three months.

Aid agencies have been stopped from delivering the most basic of supplies, leaving 2.3 million people starving.

Now, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is delivering food packages, but it is backed by Israel and the US. Its first attempt turned into chaos.

The foundation has also faced strong criticism from the UN and other aid agencies. They say it does not follow humanitarian principles and appears to be “weaponising” aid.

So why has Israel decided to let in some aid, yet only under an agency it backs?

Presenter:

Folly Bah Thibault

Guests:

Chris Gunness – Former director of communications for UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees

Amjad Shawa – Director of the Palestinian NGOs Network

Eyal Weizman – Director of the research agency Forensic Architecture at Goldsmiths at the University of London; author of The Least of All Possible Evils: Humanitarian Violence from Arendt to Gaza

As Israel expands its operations in Gaza, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are again being forced from their homes.

Israel’s prime minister has promised to seize all of the strip – something Palestinian commentators have long been saying.

Benjamin Netanyahu added the ultimate result of this will be the “forcible expulsion of Palestinians” from Gaza.

While partially lifting a blockade of the strip that’s now in its third month, he said he’s doing so only to appease his supporters in the United States.

So what does this mean for the future of Gaza and for the Palestinians suffering displacement, starvation and the constant threat of death?

Presenter: Adrian Finighan

Guests:

Afif Safieh, former Palestinian diplomat and former ambassador to the United Kingdom and US

Lex Takkenberg, senior adviser, Question of Palestine Program, Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development

Meron Rapoport, editor, Local Call website

The world is dangerously off course, comes the stark warning from the United Nations after it found that more than 295 million people faced acute hunger in 2024.

Fears are growing for the future as major donor countries are set to reduce funding this year.

Climate change and economic crises are affecting 96 million people in 18 countries, including Syria and Yemen.

Conflict and violence are the leading causes of the world’s largest humanitarian crisis in Sudan, after two years of civil war.

In Gaza, Israel’s blockade of all food, water and medicine has entered a third month, creating a manufactured crisis.

So is global food hunger a failure of systems – or a failure of humanity?

Presenter:

Guests:

Chris Gunness – Former director of communications at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)

Elise Nalbandian – Regional advocacy and campaign manager for Oxfam in Africa

Sara Hayat – Specialist in climate change law and policy