Aid agencies' fury as world stood by and let it happen

AID agencies have been warning for months Gaza was careering towards famine as pitiful TV images of children reduced to skin and bone flashed across the world.

- BY SIMON MURPHY

And after countless empty words and promises from world leaders, officials yesterday declared it has arrived, with half a million people facing starvation.

But despite pleas from humanitarian staff and Nazi holocaust survivors to end the suffering, Israel was yesterday pushing ahead with plans to occupy Gaza City, with one official warning it could be reduced to rubble.

The UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification declared the city and surrounded areas were officially in the grip of famine, and warned it will spread further.