THERE was a sense of déjà vu when Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday ‘formally’ launched Pakistan’s New Energy Vehicle Policy 2025-30. The same policy had, after all, been ‘officially’ launched on June 19, according to a PID press release issued on the same date. Perhaps the government is so enamoured with this achievement that it felt it necessary to talk about it twice. All that seemed different this time was the presence of the prime minister and his gifts. He handed over several electric scooters to high-achieving Intermediate students, promising more in the years to come. His office insisted that this event formally marked the effective date of the NEV policy. All this is well and good: one hopes that the actual policy will yield its intended benefits. The last attempt to formalise Pakistan’s approach to NEVs quickly fell apart. Launched in 2019 by the PTI government, the previous policy was abandoned due to the upheaval caused by Covid-19. Now, the government has reworked it and presented it as a means to save billions annually on petroleum imports and reduce urban air pollution, “which costs us over Rs105bn in healthcare and productivity losses”.
These are noble aims, indeed. The NEV policy’s ambition also deserves to be applauded: it aims for 30pc of all new vehicle sales to be electric by 2030, and sets an even more enterprising goal of 90pc by 2040. If these benchmarks can be achieved, it would mean this government would have triggered an energy revolution as significant as Pakistan’s globally celebrated transition to solar energy. However, many concerns remain about the policy’s viability. The key question is whether vehicle manufacturers will pass on real incentives to consumers, or repeat the industry’s old practice of maintaining high margins and giving minimal thought to the environmental impact of their activities. Unless the value proposition of NEVs becomes clear to consumers, those targets will prove difficult to attain. A key concern will be the quality of batteries sold in Pakistan, which the government must consider regulating. Charging infrastructure and battery-swapping facilities will also require sustained investment over a long period of time. Therefore, instead of grand events to celebrate NEVs, what Pakistan needs more is commitment and consistency. It has sown the seeds; now it must water the soil and hope it bears fruit.
• Commissioner says breaches ordered by CM • Three boys drown in floodwater in Gujrat district • Palkhu drain overflows near Wazirabad
GUJRAT: The authorities deliberately breached dykes near Qadirabad Headworks in Mandi Bahauddin district and Khanki Headworks in Wazirabad-Gujrat districts to save irrigation system as well lives and properties of people.
Hundreds of villages in Gujrat, Wazirabad and Mandi Bahauddin districts were affected by the high flood in the river Chenab. According to officials, the rescue teams evacuated and rescued more than 1,080 people stranded in the flooded areas along the banks of the river Chenab, whereas 935 animals were also evacuated from at least 66 villages of Gujrat by the Wednesday evening.
The Palkhu drain also overflowed near Wazirabad railway station, and the water entered various parts of the city, including residential areas, as well as Sialkot Road.
Gujranwala Commissioner Naveed Haider Sheerazi, who also holds the additional charge of Gujrat division, said a deliberate breach was caused through a blast on a road in Phalia tehsil of Mandi Bahauddin.
Gujrat Assistant Commisioner Bilal Zubair said the authorities had planned to breach the dyke at Khanki Headworks near Kot Nathu on Gujrat side on water flow reaching 1.1 million cusecs. However, he said, to be on safe side the breach was created around 15,000 to 20,000 below the mark, adding that the water flow was slightly going down by Wednesday evening.
Irrigation officials say that on Wednesday over one million cusec floodwater passed from Khanki Headworks, which was the worst flooding so far in terms of water rising in such a short span of time.
The local population near Qadirabad Headworks was also evacuated by the Mandi Bahauddin district administration in the wake of the deliberate breach.
From Marala Headworks to Kahnki Headworks, the floodwater affected at least 66 villages, which is the worst situation in Gujrat district since the 1992 floods, says Khizer Hayat Bhatti, Additional Deputy Commissioner Revenue (ADCR).
He added that the rescue and evacuation of the stranded people and their cattle from the riverbed had been continuing for the last 24 hours.
Gujranwala DC Naveed Ahmed, who also holds the additional charge of Wazirabad DC, said the Palkhu drain overflowed at around 35,000 cusecs as its safe capacity was around only 26,000 cusecs. The traffic flow on the road to Sialkot airport, from Shahbaz Pur bridge of Gujrat, as well as from Wazirabad city, has also been affected after a portion of the road connecting Jalalpur Jattan to Sialkot airport, was washed away by the floodwater.
Meanwhile, at least three boys allegedly drowned in the floodwater near two villages of Gujrat.
As per Rescue 1122, in the first incident, Bilal (12) drowned at Nutt Tibba village, whereas two others, identified as Abdul Rauf (13) and Samiullah (12) drowned near Shahbaz Pur bridge near Jalalpur Jattan town.
Gujrat Deputy Commissioner Nurulain Qureshi and District Police Officer Rana Umar Farooq also remained in the affected areas along the river Chenab banks to monitor the rescue and evacuation operations.
Despite warning by the authorities that the people should stay away from the flooded areas, a large number of people, including women and children, from Wazirabad and Gujrat continued to visit the river Chenab bridges on the GT Road, creating hurdles in the traffic flow on the national highway.
According to officials, scores of cattle heads were evacuated by the farmers from cattle farms along the river banks at Mohla, Goraya, Qiladaar, Sandhar and Tarikha villages of Gujrat, where rescue teams also evacuated stranded people.
The administrations of Gujrat and Sialkot districts had also announced local holiday on Wednesday given the flooding of the region.
Meanwhile, Gujranwala Commissioner Naveed Haider Sheerazi said that the breaches near Khanki Headworks was created on the directions of Punjab Cheif Minister Maryam Nawaz to protect further erosion of the land along the river Chenab banks and to save the lives and house houses of the residents.
He was addressing a special meeting at Khanki Headworks late on Wednesday night, where Gujrat DC Nurulain Qureshi and other senior officials were present.
He appealed to the residents of rural areas of Gujranwala, Gujrat and Wazirabad near the river Chenab banks to move to safer places as water level might further rise in the river.
He said the government was making all out efforts to protect people’s lives and properties from floodwater.
TEHRAN: Iran said on Wednesday that the return of UN nuclear inspectors did not represent a full resumption of cooperation, which was suspended in the aftermath of June attacks by Israel and the United States.
A team of inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency has returned to Iran, its director general Rafael Grossi said, the first to enter the country since Tehran formally suspended cooperation with the agency last month.
“No final text has yet been approved on the new cooperation framework with the IAEA and views are being exchanged,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said.
The agency’s inspectors left Iran after Israel launched its unprecedented attack on June 13, striking nuclear and military facilities as well as residential areas and killing more than 1,000 people.
Washington later joined in with strikes on nuclear facilities at Fordo, Isfahan, and Natanz.
Iran retaliated with missile and drone attacks that killed dozens in Israel. A ceasefire between Iran and Israel has been in place since June 24.
Iran subsequently suspended its cooperation with the IAEA, citing the agency’s failure to condemn the Israeli and US attacks.
Under the law suspending cooperation, inspectors may access Iranian nuclear sites only with the approval of the country’s top security body, the Supreme National Security Council.
Tehran has said repeatedly that future cooperation with the agency will take “a new form”.
The spokesman for Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation, Behrouz Kamalvandi, said the IAEA inspectors would oversee the replacement of fuel at the Bushehr nuclear power plant in south-western Iran.
In an interview with Fox News, Grossi said the agency and Iran were still discussing what kind of “practical modalities can be implemented in order to facilitate the restart of our work there”.
ISLAMABAD: The Gates Foundation will support the World Health Organisation (WHO) in its partnership with Pakistan to strengthen preparedness and the response to ongoing monsoon floods, meeting health needs for over 465,000 people most affected people across 33 high-risk districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan.
The donation from the Gates Foundation, totalling US$ 1 million, will support Pakistan’s national and provincial authorities in ensuring the continuity of life-saving health services by strengthening disease surveillance, outbreak response, the availability of essential medical supplies in targeted locations, health sector coordination, and risk communication and community engagement (RCCE) to provide life-saving information.
According to a statement, the initiative, to be implemented over the next six months, will pay particular attention to pregnant women, children under five, older people, people with disabilities and internally displaced people (IDPs).
“We are particularly thankful to the Gates Foundation for this generous and timely support to WHO teams in the field supporting federal and provincial authorities to meet health needs, deliver medical supplies and save lives. As the climate crisis fuels ever more extreme monsoons and natural disasters, evidence shows that a rapid response and good preparedness are essential to preserve public health,“ said WHO Representative in Pakistan Dr Dapeng Luo.
He said WHO stands with Pakistan to save lives today and build stronger, more resilient health systems for tomorrow to protect future generations.
• Lower riparian takes measures to tackle inflows from swollen Indus tributaries at Guddu Barrage • Irsa director says flood of about 650,000 cusecs likely at Guddu if current situation persists
HYDERABAD: As Sindh anticipates a very high flood between Sept 1 and 3 at Guddu Barrage — its first barrage on the Indus River — due to the swollen eastern rivers currently wreaking havoc in Punjab, the downstream province has asked the authorities to reduce outflows from Tarbela Dam to help it manage the deluge.
As multiple rivers submerge Punjab, Sindh has reached out to the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) to reduce outflows from Tarbela and retain water at Chashma Barrage — a request accepted by the authority.
The provincial irrigation authorities are keeping an eye on flows generated in the Chenab, Sutlej, and Ravi rivers, as all these rivers converge in the Indus at Mithankot after passing the Panjnad Barrage built over the Jhelum River. At Panjnad, all tributaries of the Indus meet on their way to the sea through Sindh.
“As of today, I foresee a flow of between 650,000 and 700,000 cusecs at Guddu Barrage once the flows start reaching here from the eastern rivers,” Jam Khan, Sindh’s irrigation minister, told Dawn on the phone from Karachi. “Right now it is a guessing game because nobody knows how the rainfall pattern behaves but we are making full preparations and accordingly managing staff at the dykes,” he added.
Zarif Kharif, the Sindh irrigation secretary, said a similar situation was witnessed in 2014 when Khanki Barrage on Chenab reported 947,000 cusecs flow on Sept 7, 2014 and Sindh had received about 475,000 cusecs.
“This time, the situation is a bit different because Guddu passed a high flood of 510,798 cusecs on Aug 24. As of Wednesday, Guddu was still showing an upstream discharge of 335,196 cusecs, he said, adding that the flows would increase once water from Punjab reached the barrage.
In order to manage the surge, the secretary confirmed that they reached out to Irsa Director Operations Khalid Idrees Rana for controlling outflows at Tarbela. An outflow of 154,500 cusecs was recorded at Tarbela at 6am on Wednesday, which notably increased to 256,200 cusecs at 6pm. This, coupled with the Kabul River, will reach Sindh’s barrages within a few days.
Tarbela Dam had attained the maximum storage level of 1,550 feet on Aug 21. After Irsa started discharging flows, the dam’s level stood at 1549.66ft on Wednesday at 6pm. Against this backdrop, the irrigation secretary asked Irsa to retain water at Chashma so that Sindh could manage its flows from the swollen eastern rivers.
“Yes, we have reduced flows from Tarbela (at Sindh’s request), where 155,000 cusecs outflow was recorded at 8pm Wednesday,” the Irsa operations director told Dawn. He also confirmed that “storage can be taken slightly higher than maximum storage of 1,550 feet. We can take it to 1550.2 or 1550.3 feet for now,” he argued.
He said that a positive sign was that there were no back-up flows in the Chenab. “We are observing nullahs like Palkhu, Basantpur and Bhimber currently,” he said. He pointed out that in view of the current situation, a flood of 650,000 cusecs or so was likely at Guddu and that too may last five to six hours. “We are struggling to manage flows in a way that Guddu’s discharge should remain below 600,000 cusecs.”
• PM orders NDMA to guard against urban flooding in Lahore, Sialkot and Gujrat • President asks Sindh to gear up for large flows; Nawaz asks lawmakers to help their constituents • Minister announces compensation for Danyore nullah victims
ISLAMABAD / LAHORE: The country’s federal and provincial leadership is overseeing a coordinated emergency response to the unprecedented flood crisis across the country.
No province or territory has escaped the water’s wrath — be it destruction from flash floods in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, devastating glacial lake outburst floods in Gilgit Baltistan, crippling rains in Sindh or the overflowing rivers in Punjab.
Chairing an emergency meeting on Wednesday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to take immediate measures to address potential urban flooding in Punjab, particularly Lahore, Sialkot, and Gujrat.
The PM was briefed on high water discharge pressure in the Ravi River at Jastar and Shahdara, and in the Sutlej River at Ganda Singh Wala and Sulemanki, with monitoring stations also tracking conditions at Khanki, Balloki, and Qadirabad.
He emphasised the need to enhance flood and rainfall warning effectiveness, stressing timely information sharing between NDMA and Punjab’s Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) to minimise losses. He instructed key ministers and officials to reach Lahore immediately to ensure uninterrupted power supply, communication channels, and road restoration.
NDMA Chairman Lt-Gen Inam Haider Malik briefed the prime minister on pre-emptive evacuations, safe relocations, and relief supply delivery, while army personnel and police services have been engaged for damage mitigation in flood-affected Punjab areas.
Zardari directs Sindh preparations
In a statement, President Asif Ali Zardari also expressed deep grief over the devastating floods, extending heartfelt condolences to families who suffered losses of life, property, livestock, and farms.
While appreciating the “exemplary valor and commitment” demonstrated by armed forces and emergency rescue teams during this crisis, he specifically directed the government of Sindh — ruled by his own PPP — to immediately begin preparations to cope with the massive amount of water that is expected to flow into the province in the coming days.
Expressing confidence in the nation’s resilience, President Zardari referenced Pakistan’s successful response to previous floods in 2010 and 2022, stating the country would overcome this trial with similar determination.
PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif has reportedly directed the party’s federal and provincial ministers and lawmakers to immediately reach their constituencies and actively take part in flood relief activities. The directions came at a Sharif family meeting in Murree, where Nawaz, PM Shehbaz and CM Maryam discussed the devastation caused by the floods.
Nawaz Sharif reportedly asked the federal and Punjab governments to effectively coordinate with each other to deal with flood devastation and subsequent relief work.
Meanwhile, the Punjab chief minister spoke to commissioners and deputy commissioners via video link, and directed them to moblise all resources for rescue and relief operations in the areas affected by flood across the province. She asked the participants of the meeting to ensure tents, food and medicines for the people affected by the flood.
CM Maryam also visited Shahdara to review the flood situation and inspect the safety dam and other measures taken by the administration. The CM directed the administration and other relevant departments engaged in the rescue and relief activities to complete the evacuation process of the population and livestock from the river crossings at the earliest.
Muqam visits GB
Meanwhile, Kashmir, GB and Safron Minister Amir Muqam arrived in Gilgit on a three-day visit to monitor flood rehabilitation and relief activities, highlighting the ongoing threat posed by glacier lake outburst floods in the region.
During his visit, he met families of seven volunteers who lost their lives while attempting to restore water supply in the Danyore nallah. He announced Rs2 million in compensation for each slain volunteer’s family and promised the establishment of a memorial centre.
GB Chief Secretary Abrar Ahmed Mirza briefed the Federal Minister on glacier lake vulnerability, noting that many downstream areas face risks of Glofs. The minister announced that water supply to Danyore, Sultanabad, and Mohammadabad would be restored soon as rehabilitation work continues.
Syed Irfan Raza in Islamabad, Zulqernain Tahir in Lahore and Jamil Nagri in Gilgit contributed to this report
TEHRAN: Iran said on Wednesday that the return of UN nuclear inspectors did not represent a full resumption of cooperation, which was suspended in the aftermath of June attacks by Israel and the United States.
A team of inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has returned to Iran, its director general Rafael Grossi said, the first to enter the country since Tehran formally suspended cooperation with the agency last month.
“No final text has yet been approved on the new cooperation framework with the IAEA and views are being exchanged,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said.
The agency’s inspectors left Iran after Israel launched its unprecedented attack on June 13, striking nuclear and military facilities as well as residential areas and killing more than 1,000 people.
Washington later joined in with strikes on nuclear facilities at Fordow, Isfahan, and Natanz.
Iran retaliated with missile and drone attacks that killed dozens in Israel. A ceasefire between Iran and Israel has been in place since June 24.
Iran subsequently suspended its cooperation with the IAEA, citing the agency’s failure to condemn the Israeli and US attacks.
Under the law suspending cooperation, inspectors may access Iranian nuclear sites only with the approval of the country’s top security body, the Supreme National Security Council.
Tehran has said repeatedly that future cooperation with the agency will take “a new form”.
The spokesman for Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation, Behrouz Kamalvandi, said the IAEA inspectors would oversee the replacement of fuel at the Bushehr nuclear power plant in south-western Iran.
In an interview with Fox News, Grossi said the agency and Iran were still discussing what kind of “practical modalities can be implemented in order to facilitate the restart of our work there”.
With over 5,000 players in NBA history, at least one player was born on every day of the calendar year – including three leap-day ballers. Our day-by-day breakdown of the players born on each day of the year continues.
Below are the most notable NBA players born on March 26.
John Stockton (1962)
Holding any record in the NBA is incredible, but having the most assists and steals in NBA history is truly remarkable. That’s what Stockton achieved throughout his 19-year career, spending all 19 seasons with the Utah Jazz. Utah selected Stockton 19th overall in the 1984 NBA Draft, but he didn’t truly break out until 1988.
That was his first of nine straight assists titles, finishing Top 15 in MVP votes 12 times as well. It was also the start of 10 All-Star appearances, with Stockton making 11 All-NBA teams as well. Regarding Stockton’s defense, he led the league in steals twice while making five All-Defensive teams. That ridiculous run for Stockton earned him a Hall of Fame berth in 2009. His 15,806 career assists and 3,265 steals are the highest marks in NBA history, and he also ranks 53rd in scoring.
Wayne Embry (1937)
“Goose” was one of the best players during the 60s, spending most of his career with the Cincinnati Royals. The St. Louis Hawks selected him 23rd overall in the 1958 NBA Draft, but a preseason trade sent him to Cincy. Fans were thankful that happened, with Embry making five straight All-Star appearances between 1960 and 1965. He also finished ninth in MVP voting in 1964, averaging a double-double in all five seasons.
Embry closed his career by playing two years with the Boston Celtics and then officially retired in 1969 with the Milwaukee Bucks. The big man also won a title with the Celtics in 1968 and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1999 because of his front office contributions. Embry was the first African-American GM in the NBA and was named Executive of the Year with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1992 and 1998.
Want to see every NBA player born on March 26? Here is the rest of the list in chronological order:
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Wednesday strongly condemned the deadly Israeli air strikes on Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, Gaza, which claimed the lives of at least 21 individuals, including five journalists and a rescue worker.
“This unconscionable and heinous attack on a medical facility, as well as the continued targeting of civilians and journalists, represents a grave violation of international human rights and humanitarian law, as well as freedom of the press,” the Foreign Office spokesperson said in a statement.
“We reiterate our call on the international community to hold Israel accountable for such heinous crimes and to take concrete steps towards ending Israel’s impunity,” the spokesperson said.
Israel struck Nasser Hospital in the south of the Gaza Strip on Monday, killing at least 20 people, including five journalists who worked for Reuters,Associated Press, Al Jazeera and others.
Terms Nasser Hospital attack ‘unconscionable’, grave violation of human rights
Global media and humanitarian organisations condemned the attack. The Committee to Protect Journalists reported that at least 189 Palestinian journalists have been killed during the 22-month conflict.
Meanwhile, the United Nations insisted on Tuesday that Israel must not only investigate alleged unlawful killings in Gaza but also ensure those probes yield results.
“There needs to be justice,” United Nations rights office (OHCHR) spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan told reporters in Geneva, adding that the large number of media workers killed in the Gaza war “raises many, many questions about the targeting of journalists”.
Pakistan also condemned in the strongest possible terms the Israeli occupying forces’ incursion into the Syrian Arab Republic in contravention of international law and principles of the UN Charter.
Pakistan expressed its full support for the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Syria, and called on the international community to prevent Israel from undermining the peace and stability of the entire region.
On Wednesday, Syria also condemned an Israeli drone strike that killed six soldiers the previous day, calling it a “clear violation” of the country’s sovereignty.
Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria since an alliance of opposition forces toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December. It has also opened talks with the interim authorities in Damascus.
In a statement, Syria’s foreign ministry called the strike “a gross violation of international law and the United Nations Charter”.
It added that the attack represented “a clear breach of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic”.
State television reported six army personnel “were killed in strikes by Israeli occupation drones” near Kisweh, outside Damascus in the Tuesday attack.
• Evacuation of Gaza’s largest city ‘inevitable’, says Israeli army spokesman • Save the Children chief says starving children are too weak to even cry
GAZA CITY: The Israeli military pressed operations around Gaza City on Wednesday, as President Donald Trump prepared to host a White House meeting on post-war plans for the shattered Palestinian territory.
Israel is under mounting pressure both at home and abroad to end its almost two-year campaign in Gaza, where the military is preparing to conquer the territory’s largest city and the United Nations has declared a famine.
Mediators have circulated a draft ceasefire and prisoner deal that has been accepted by the Palestinian group Hamas, but Israel has yet to give an official response. Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari on Tuesday said that mediators were still “waiting for an answer” from Israel.
On the ground, the Israeli military said its troops were “operating on the outskirts of Gaza City to locate and dismantle terror infrastructure sites above and below ground”.
Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesman, Avichay Adraee, wrote on X that the evacuation of Gaza’s largest city was “inevitable”.
The vast majority of Gaza’s population has been displaced at least once during the war, and aid groups working in the territory consider the plan “unrealistic and dangerous”.
The UN estimates that nearly a million people currently live in Gaza City and its surroundings in the north of the territory.
Residents of Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood spoke of heavy Israeli bombardment overnight. “Warplanes struck several times, and drones fired throughout the night,” said Tala al-Khatib, 29.
“Several homes in Zeitoun were blown up. We are still in our house — some neighbours have fled, while others remain. But wherever you flee, death follows you,” she said.
AFP footage on Wednesday showed thick smoke rising into the sky following air strikes on the Abu Iskandar and Sheikh Radwan neighbourhoods in the north of Gaza City.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz last week announced that the forces would destroy the city if Hamas did not agree on terms acceptable to Israel. The announcement was made after the ministry approved the military’s plan to seize the city.
‘Comprehensive plan’
Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff said the US president was hosting top officials at the White House on Wednesday to thrash out a detailed plan for post-war Gaza.
“We’ve got a large meeting in the White House, chaired by the president, and it’s a very comprehensive plan we’re putting together on the next day,” Witkoff said on Fox News, without disclosing more details.
Trump stunned the world earlier this year when he suggested the United States should take control of the Gaza Strip, clear out its inhabitants and redevelop it as seaside real estate, which sparked an outcry in Europe and the Arab world.
As Israel’s security cabinet convened on Tuesday evening, tens of thousands of protesters massed in Tel Aviv to demand an end to the war.
Death toll nears 63,000
Since October 2023, Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 62,895 Palestinians, including hundreds of journalists, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza that the United Nations considers reliable.
At least 51 more Palestinians, including 12 waiting for aid, were killed on Wednesday, according to Al Jazeera. Gaza’s health ministry the total number of deaths due to famine and malnutrition has reached 313, 119 of whom were children, over past two months.
The head of Save the Children described in horrific detail on Wednesday the slow agony of starving children in Gaza, saying they are so weak they do not even cry.
Addressing a Security Council meeting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the president of the international charity, Inger Ashing, said famine in Gaza was not just a dry technical term. “When there is not enough food, children become acutely malnourished, and then they die slowly and painfully. This, in simple terms, is what famine is,” said Ashing.
She insisted aid groups have been warning loudly that famine was coming as Israel prevented food and other essentials from entering Gaza over the course of two years of war. “Yet our clinics are almost silent. Now, children do not have the strength to speak or even cry out in agony. They lie there, emaciated, quite literally wasting away,” said Ashing.
“Everyone in this room has a legal and moral responsibility to act to stop this atrocity,” she said.
The UN officially declared famine in Gaza on Friday, blaming what it called systematic obstruction of aid by Israel during more than 22 months of war.
A UN-backed hunger monitor, Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative, said famine was affecting 500,000 people in the Gaza governorate, which covers about a fifth of the Palestinian territory. The IPC projected that the famine would expand by the end of September to cover around two-thirds of Gaza.
