“There's no argument in the world to justify this

SIR Bob Geldof has begged the world to end the suffering in Gaza, pleading: “Feed the children and their tormented, terrified, broken and panicked mothers.”

- By Giles Sheldrick Chief Reporter

The rock star and campaigner broke his silence on the deepening humanitarian catastrophe 40 years after he jolted the planet into action over the Ethiopian famine.

Sir Bob, 73, spoke out after seeing yesterday's Daily Express front page carrying an image of an emaciated one-year-old boy.

The shocking picture of skeletal Muhammad Zakariya Ayyoub al-Matouq being tenderly cradled by his mother appalled the world.

It encapsulated the “maelstrom of human misery” gripping the enclave. And in a stark message, Sir Bob, who writes for the Express today, said: "There is no argument in the world, no war aim, no imagined future that justifies this photograph and its abysmal and shameful, disgusting truth."

The Boomtown Rats frontman's Live Aid concerts in 1985 were watched by a global TV audience of 1.5 billion and raised more than £114million for famine relief.

Yesterday, in striking echoes of his appeal four decades ago, more than 100 aid agencies united to warn that “mass starvation” is spreading across Gaza.