'Sympathy has shifted' Why Palestinians fear Iran's attack will affect aid efforts

Iran's attack tested the Israel's air defences, but repaired - at least temporarily - the Netanyahu government's fractured relationship with Washington and pushed the war and looming man-made famine in Gaza out of headlines and down the diplomatic agenda.

- Emma Graham-Harrison,  Malak A Tantesh 

In Gaza, where almost all the civilian population is displaced and hungry after more than six months of war, this shift in attention has been felt acutely.

"Countries and peoples were sympathetic to us, but now sympathy has shifted to Israel," said Bashir Alyan, 52, once an employee of the Palestinian Authority, now living in a tent in Rafah with his seven children. "Israel became the victim overnight." He has watched the sudden shift in diplomatic focus because his family's lives depend on it.

They are mostly living off food aid provided by Unrwa, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, and eat only two meals a day. He has lost 20kg (44lb) in six months.

"The international pressures that were being exerted on Israel to bring in more aid and to stop the aggression against Gaza are now a thing of the past," he said, though he has no time for Iran either. "Iran's issues are not our issues. It only pursues its own interests."

Joe Biden, was ramping up pressure on Israel to improve access for aid into Gaza, particularly after the killing of seven workers with the food agency World Central Kitchen in March. Last week the US aid chief, Samantha Power, became the country's first official to confirm famine was beginning to take hold in Gaza.