Ayatollah Sistani urges Arab, Muslim nations to take action over worsening Gaza famine

“After nearly two years of relentless killing and destruction, which have left hundreds of thousands of people killed and wounded, and resulted in the demolition of countless cities and residential buildings, the oppressed Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are living under horrific conditions,” Ayatollah Sistani said in a statement on Friday evening.

He warned that the scope of famine in the besieged coastal sliver has expanded dramatically, leaving no segment of the population unaffected.

Ayatollah Sistani noted that nothing is expected from Israeli occupation forces other than monstrous brutality in their attempts to uproot the Palestinian people.

The high-profile Iraqi Shia cleric emphasized that the international community, particularly Arab and Muslim nations, is obligated not to allow this major humanitarian tragedy to continue.

He called for intensified global efforts to put an end to the catastrophe, and urged world states to do anything possible to pressure the occupying Tel Aviv regime and its sponsors to allow the delivery of food and other basic commodities to innocent civilians in Gaza as soon as possible.

Ayatollah Sistani’s statement comes as famine continues to spread across Gaza, with humanitarian organizations warning of a dramatic increase in malnutrition and deaths related to starvation.

Recent data supported by the UN indicates that almost half a million individuals are currently facing extreme levels of hunger.

Aid agencies have reported that over 100 Palestinians — predominantly children — have succumbed to starvation in the past few weeks, as medical facilities face challenges in providing care for thousands of critically malnourished children.

Humanitarian aid deliveries continue to face significant restrictions, as Israeli forces obstruct or target convoys that are trying to access northern and central Gaza.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and various international organizations have characterized the situation as a man-made famine, urging the global community to exert pressure on “Israel” to lift the blockade without delay.