Four decades after mobilising global action against the Ethiopian famine, Sir Bob Geldof has issued a forceful condemnation of Israel's conduct in Gaza, demanding an immediate end to what he describes as deliberate starvation of Palestinian children.
The 73-year-old musician and activist broke his silence on the humanitarian disaster with an impassioned plea: "Feed the children and their tormented, terrified, broken and panicked mothers."
In a statement released on Wednesday, Geldof directly challenged Israeli society, asking: "What has happened to the Israeli people?"
He accused Israel of forcing Palestinians into "helpless ghettos" before "purposely" starving them, declaring that current actions can no longer be justified by the October 7 attacks.
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|Sir Bob Geldof has slammed the 'abysmal' starvation of children
"Your government and your army seem to be out of control," he stated.
Geldof's statement was prompted by a photograph of severely malnourished one-year-old Muhammad Zakariya Ayyoub al-Matouq, whose skeletal frame has become emblematic of Gaza's humanitarian catastrophe.
"There is no argument in the world, no war aim, no imagined future that justifies this photograph and its abysmal and shameful, disgusting truth," he declared.
The campaigner questioned whether Israelis had become "so inured" to images of historical suffering that they "cannot feel or see anything anymore."
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|The 73-year-old musician and activist broke his silence on the humanitarian disaster
He suggested Palestinians had been "de-humanised" in a manner reminiscent of Jewish persecution, asking: "Has the 'other' been so de-humanised, as you once so cruelly were, that a similar madness seizes you now and permits such stomach-churning barbarity?"
More than 100 humanitarian organisations have united to warn that "mass starvation" is spreading across Gaza, accusing Israel of blocking food deliveries to distribution centres.
The coalition, which includes Save the Children and Médecins Sans Frontières, declared that Palestinians remain caught in an endless cycle of false hope and deteriorating circumstances.
Dr Munir al-Boursh, the ministry's director-general, described these figures as "cries for help" and urged immediate global intervention.
The United Nations has cautioned that one million children throughout Gaza face severe malnutrition.
Meanwhile, humanitarian groups report that daily aid deliveries average merely 28 lorries, far below the 600 required to sustain the 2.1 million residents.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has distributed 87 million meals since May, but reports that Hamas is obstructing ceasefire negotiations by demanding control over aid distribution.
"Hamas is holding up the ceasefire over who controls food aid," the organisation stated, explaining that Hamas seeks to replace their operations with UN management to maintain power through theft and taxation of supplies.
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|Geldof's statement comes four decades after mobilising global action against Ethiopian famine
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, following a visit to Gaza, described witnessing people queuing for hours under the sun for basic meals as "morally unacceptable and unjustifiable."
Adnan Abu Hasna from the UN's Palestinian refugee agency characterised the situation as "a deliberate use of hunger as a weapon," whilst another UN official warned: "We're in the death phase.
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|Bob Geldof and Midge Ure organised the charity supergroup Band Aid and the concerts Live Aid and Live 8
"Doctors and nurses are watching children disappear and die in front of their eyes."