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JERUSALEM: Israel on Monday announced it will provide emergency humanitarian aid to South Sudan, one of the world’s poorest countries in the midst of renewed violent political instability.
The announcement by Foreign Minister Gideon Saar comes after media reports that Israel held talks with the African state to resettle Palestinians from Gaza — a claim South Sudan has firmly rejected.
The war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, now in its 23rd month, has created a dire humanitarian crisis for the Palestinian territory’s population of more than two million people.
“In light of the severe humanitarian crisis in South Sudan, (Israel) will deliver urgent humanitarian assistance to vulnerable populations in the country,” a statement from Saar’s office said.
“South Sudan is currently struggling with a cholera outbreak and facing a severe shortage of resources,” the statement added.
“The aid will include essential medical supplies for treating patients, water purification equipment, gloves and face masks, as well as special hygiene kits to prevent cholera” and food packages, the statement added.
Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel paid an official visit to the country’s capital Juba last week.
Meanwhile, UN-backed experts have warned of widespread famine unfolding in Gaza, where Israel has drastically curtailed the amount of humanitarian aid it allows in and convoys have been repeatedly looted.
Rights group Amnesty International on Monday accused Israel of enacting a “deliberate policy” of starvation in Gaza and “systematically destroying the health, well-being and social fabric of Palestinian life.”
Israel has rejected claims of deliberate starvation.
The war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Israel’s offensive has killed at least 62,004 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza which the United Nations considers reliable.

CAIRO: The Palestinian Health Ministry said on Monday that more than 62,000 Palestinians have been killed in the 22-month Gaza war.
At least 60 people were killed in the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll from the Israel-Hamas war that started on Oct. 7, 2023 to 62,004. Another 156,230 have been wounded, it said.
The Health Ministry said 1,965 people were killed while seeking aid from aid convoys or killed close to aid distribution sites. At least seven Palestinians were killed attempting to access aid on Monday morning.
The ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count, is staffed by medical professionals. The United Nations and other independent experts view its figures as the most reliable count of casualties. Israel has disputed its figures, but hasn’t provided its own account of casualties.