São Paulo After nearly three months of intense Israeli bombardment, 40% of the surviving Palestinian population in Gaza are in imminent danger, having no food to eat and virtually no water to drink. The warning was issued this Saturday (30) by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
“We need regular supplies and safe and sustainable humanitarian access throughout the Gaza Strip,” wrote UNRWA in a message published on the social network X, also sharing a video from the director of this agency showing the arrival of a humanitarian convoy in Gaza: “ People are hungry and desperate for food. UNRWA convoy in Gaza City this week,” said Thomas White.
People are hungry and desperate for food @UNRWA Convoy in #Gaza city this week.
40% of the population is at risk of hunger.
More regular care needed safe and sustainable care needed #humanitarain Access everywhere, including northern Gaza pic.twitter.com/ylZ3ors6RNThomas White (@TomWhiteGaza) December 30, 2023
Increase in Israeli attacks on Gaza
This Friday (29), the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) told the BBC that at least 100,000 people had moved to Rafah, the southernmost city of Gaza, in recent days. This is due to the increase in fighting in and around Khan Younis, also in the southern Gaza Strip, leading to increased overcrowding and a reduction in the availability of resources.
According to Thomas White, who is in Rafah, “well over a million people” are seeking shelter in the city, an overcrowding situation that is leading to thousands of people sleeping outdoors “under fragile pieces of plastic.”
Uliette Touma, also from UNRWA, told the BBC that “humanitarian needs on the ground continue to grow enormously.” And that “nowhere in Gaza is safe, not in the north, not in the center and not in the south”.
Israeli newspaper reports 1,300 dead Israelis
According to Hamas Health Ministry data released on Friday (29), at least 165 Palestinians were killed and another 250 injured in 14 Israeli strikes in the last 24 hours. Since the conflict began on October 7, 21,672 people have died in the Gaza Strip. And 56,165 were injured by the attacks, with 70% of the victims women and children. Around 5,300 people have to be evacuated abroad for medical care because there is no adequate help in the Gaza Strip.
According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, this Thursday there was also evidence of at least 1,300 civilians and military personnel in Israel since October 7th.
Also according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the current mechanism for the daily removal of injured or sick people through the Rafah border crossing to the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt is “not satisfactory.” So far only 1% of the injured have been allowed to leave the country.
The Palestine Arab Federation of Brazil reproduced the image of the UN director. And he classified it as another consequence of the “Israeli genocide.”
That's hunger.
A historical picture of the genocide carried out by “Israel” in Palestine.
Thousands of Palestinians desperate for food surround a humanitarian aid truck in northern Gaza.pic.twitter.com/mHLHnfbAfo
— FEPAL Palestine Arab Federation of Brazil (@FepalB) December 31, 2023
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Publisher: Cida de Oliveira, with Diário de Notícias