From the World Food Programme:
WFP food deliveries to northern Gaza face further setbacks
ROME – Efforts by the UN World Food Programme (WFP) to deliver desperately needed food supplies to Northern Gaza resumed today but were largely unsuccessful.
A 14-truck food convoy – the first by WFP since it paused deliveries to the north on 20 February – was turned back by the Israeli Defence Force after a three-hour wait at the Wadi Gaza checkpoint.
“Although today’s convoy did not make it to the north to provide food to the people who are starving, WFP continues to explore every possible means to do so,” said Carl Skau, WFP’s Deputy Executive Director.
After being turned away the trucks were rerouted and later stopped by a large crowd of desperate people who looted the food, taking around 200 tons, from the trucks.
Road routes are the only option to transport the large quantities of food needed to avert famine in northern Gaza.
Earlier today, with the help of the Royal Jordanian Air Force, WFP food supplies for 20,000 people (6 tons) were dropped in northern Gaza.
“Airdrops are a last resort and will not avert famine. We need entry points to northern Gaza that will allow us to deliver enough food for half a million people in desperate need,” Skau added.
Hunger has reached catastrophic levels in the north of Gaza where children are dying of hunger-related diseases and suffering severe levels of malnutrition. A massive relief operation requires more entry points into Gaza, including from the north, and the use of Ashdod port.
A ceasefire in Gaza is urgently needed to enable an operation of this size. With greater safety for humanitarian staff to move food and other supplies regularly throughout the Strip and with routes in from the North, WFP and its partners can prevent famine.
The United Nations World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.
https://www.wfp.org/news/wfp-food-deliv ... r-setbacksThere are several facts mentioned in this article:
The WFP has been unable to deliver food to northern Gaza since February 20.
People in the region are already dying of starvation and malnutrition.
It is the IDF and the Israeli government blocking the humanitarian assistance.
The amount of food currently reaching northern Gaza is not enough to avert famine and is therefore insignificant.
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According to the United Nations:
Israel tells UN it will reject UNRWA food convoys into northern Gaza
“As of today, UNRWA, the main lifeline for Palestine refugees, is denied from providing lifesaving assistance to northern Gaza,” UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini wrote in a social media post on X.
He called the decision “outrageous”, saying it was made to intentionally obstruct lifesaving aid deliveries during a man-made famine in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.
He underlined the need to lift this ban, adding that UNRWA – the backbone of the humanitarian response in Gaza – is the largest relief agency in the Strip and has the greatest ability to reach displaced communities there.
“Despite the tragedy unfolding under our watch, the Israeli authorities informed the UN that they will no longer approve any UNRWA food convoys to the north. This is outrageous & makes it intentional to obstruct lifesaving assistance during a man-made famine,” he wrote.
“These restrictions must be lifted,” he continued.
“By preventing UNRWA to fulfill its mandate in Gaza, the clock will tick faster towards famine & many more will die of hunger, dehydration + lack of shelter,” he warned. “This cannot happen, it would only stain our collective humanity.”
World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus slammed the new order.
“Blocking UNRWA from delivering food is in fact denying starving people the ability to survive,” he said in a social media post.
“This decision must be urgently reversed,” he continued.
“The levels of hunger are acute. All efforts to deliver food should not only be permitted but there should be an immediate acceleration of food deliveries.”
UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths echoed that message.
"I have urged Israel to lift all impediments on aid to Gaza. Now this – MORE impediments," he wrote on social media.
"UNRWA is the beating heart of the humanitarian response in Gaza," he stated.
"The decision to block its food convoys to the north only pushes thousands closer to famine," he warned. "It must be revoked."
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report on Gaza Strip stated last week that famine is imminent in the northern part of the Strip and is expected to occur between now and May in the two northern governorates, which are home to about 300,000 people.
Upon the report’s release, UN Secretary General António Guterres described the findings as an “appalling indictment of conditions on the ground for civilians”.
“Palestinians in Gaza are enduring horrifying levels of hunger and suffering,” he said at the time. “This is an entirely man-made disaster, and the report makes clear that it can be halted.”
The UN chief is currently in the region on his annual Ramadan solidarity trip, having visited with Palestinian women and children injured by Israeli attacks on Gaza, and strongly renewed his call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. His trip included a visit to the Rafah border crossing into Gaza and planned meetings in Egypt and Jordan.
Earlier on Sunday, Mr. Guterres met the press in Cairo, reiterating that call.
“Palestinians in Gaza desperately need what has been promised: a flood of aid,” he said, “not trickles, not drops.”
He said some progress has been made, but much more needs to be done, and making that increasing aid flows requires very practical steps.
Early on Sunday, UNRWA’s Commissioner-General said that there will be widespread consequences for Palestine refugees in Gaza and the region following the newly passed United States foreign aid spending bill for 2024, which limits funding to the agency until March 2025.
He said the humanitarian community in Gaza is racing against time to avoid famine and that any gap in funding for UNRWA will undermine access to food, shelter, primary health care and education at an extremely difficult time.
Palestine refugees are counting on the international community to increase its support to meet their basic needs, he said.
UNRWA supports about 5.9 million Palestinian refugees in its five areas of operations: Gaza, the West Bank including East Jerusalem, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
Mr. Lazzarini expressed his appreciation for UNRWA’s supporters from members of the US Congress “who are speaking on behalf of the agency during this difficult period” and for US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s support last week with the European Union.
The UNRWA chief stressed that the agency will continue to work with the US on the path of joint commitment towards Palestine refugees and peace and stability throughout the region.
He said that UNRWA, along with donors and partners, will continue to implement its mandate entrusted to it by the UN General Assembly to protect the rights of Palestine refugees until a lasting political solution is reached.
Facts from this article:
The famine is artificially created and deliberately caused by the IDF and Israeli government.
The WHO chief also thinks that blocking UNRWA aid is deliberate starvation.
As does the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator.
Independent bodies have verified the imminent risk of famine.
The UN chief also called current food assistance a “trickle”, and has clearly pointed a finger at the IDF and Israeli government as the actors who must open more land access routes.
TL;DR version:
Aid is not getting into Gaza at levels necessary to avoid famine, and this is a deliberate tactic by the IDF and Israeli government.
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