Palestinian Red Crescent president says no aid has yet reached Gazans
'I think that is an invitation for killing. These people are starving,' says Younis Al Khatib, adding risk of looting inevitable
The President of the Palestine Red Crescent Society Younis Al Khatib speaks in a press briefing in Geneva, Switzerland on May 22, 2025.
Geneve
GENEVA
The president of the Palestine Red Crescent Society said on Thursday that no civilians in Gaza have received any of the humanitarian aid deliveries that have crossed over the border this week, describing the "few trucks" that entered as "an invitation for killing."
"I can prove that nobody has received (aid). No civilian has received anything yet," Younis Al Khatib told reporters during a press briefing in Geneva. "Most of these trucks are still in Kerem Shalom at the border, inspected, but not into Gaza."
He described the dire situation on the ground, saying that sending a small number of trucks into Gaza will only exacerbate the crisis.
"I think that is an invitation for killing. These people are starving," he warned, noting that the lack of aid and the severe food shortages have already started claiming lives.
"Today, we are hearing news about kids dying from starvation, and reports saying 90% of children are on the verge of starvation. It’s very difficult to hide the rush and the looting that will happen," he said.
Palestinian Health Minister Majed Abu Ramadan said on Thursday in a separate briefing in Geneva: "In the last couple of days, we lost 29 innocent children and the elderly," he said, describing them as "starvation-related deaths."
Nearly 2.4 million people in Gaza live completely dependent on humanitarian aid, according to World Bank data.
According to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), hundreds of thousands of Palestinians eat only one meal every two or three days amid Israel’s crippling blockade.
Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli army has pursued a brutal offensive against Gaza since October 2023, killing nearly 53,800 Palestinians, most of them women and children.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.�
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
