14,000 babies in Gaza could die in 48 hours without aid, UN warns
GAZA CITY
Children sit with plastic buckets as displaced Palestinians collect water in Gaza City, on May 20, 2025, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian militant movement Hamas.
Some 14,000 babies in the war-torn Gaza Strip could die in the next 48 hours if aid does not reach them, the United Nations’ humanitarian chief said on May 20.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today program, Tom Fletcher denounced the limited amount of aid entering the territory, saying that only few trucks of aid were allowed into the enclave on May 19, which he described as only “a drop in the ocean.”
Fletcher said he hopes that 100 trucks will enter Gaza on May 20.
“I want to save as many as these 14,000 babies as we can in the next 48 hours,” he said.
“It’ll be tough ... but we’ll load those up with baby food and our people will run those risks,” he added.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel would allow basic aid into Gaza to prevent a “starvation crisis” after the army initiated a major new offensive.
Netanyahu said the limited aid access was because "images of mass starvation" in Gaza could hurt the legitimacy of his country's war.
Though the Netanyahu government has faced a barrage of criticism from its European allies over aid blockade and attacks, it has now become the target of a rare criticism at home.
A leader of Israel's center-left politics Tuesday said that his country is becoming a pariah state that kills children "as a hobby.”
“A sane country doesn’t engage in fighting against civilians, doesn’t kill babies as a hobby and doesn’t set for itself the goals of expelling a population,” Yair Golan, a retired general and leader of the opposition Democrats party, told a local radio.
"Israel is on the path to becoming a pariah state among the nations, like the South Africa of old, if it does not return to behaving like a sane country," said Golan said.
Many Israelis have criticized Netanyahu throughout the war, but that has been mostly limited to what opponents argue are his political motives to continue the war and his failed policy on hostages.
Criticism like Golan's, over the war's toll on Palestinian civilians, has been almost unheard in the country.
Netanyahu accused Golan of "wild incitement" against Israeli troops and of "echoing the most despicable anti-Semitic blood libels against the army and the State of Israel."
Golan also drew condemnation from government critics, with opposition leader Yair Lapid saying that the statement that they kill children as a hobby is incorrect and “is a gift to our enemies.”
Responding to criticism, Golan said on X that he was trying to sound the alarm on the direction he believed Israel was headed.
The government's war plans are "the realization of the fantasies of [Itamar] Ben Gvir and [Bezalel] Smotrich,” Golan said, referring to two far-right ministers.
His “pariah state” warning came as several European countries criticized Israel over its attacks in the strip.
On May 19, the leaders of Britain, France and Canada warned of joint action if it did not halt a heightened military offensive in the Palestinian territory.
"We will not stand by while the Netanyahu government pursues these egregious actions. If Israel does not cease the renewed military offensive and lift its restrictions on humanitarian aid, we will take further concrete actions in response," British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a joint statement.
In response, Netanyahu said "all European leaders" should follow U.S. President Donald Trump's example in supporting Israel.
The statement coincided with a joint demand by 22 countries for Israel to immediately "allow a full resumption of aid into Gaza,” noting that the territory's population "faces starvation.”
Another move came from the European Union as the bloc’s top diplomat said that the Foreign Affairs Council will discuss suspending the association agreement with Israel upon demands by the member countries.
