Humanitarian aid alone cannot meet the basic needs of the population in the Gaza Strip, several UN organizations warned this Monday in a joint statement in which they called for better access to aid for the enclave.
The text from the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes that people in Gaza are at risk of starvation near trucks full of food.
The statement called on Israel to take urgent measures to increase supplies that the population in the besieged area relies on for survival.
In this sense, the agencies called for the opening of new entry routes that would allow more trucks to pass through border controls every day and ensure fewer restrictions on the movement of humanitarian workers.
• As this Sunday marks the 100th day of the Israeli military offensive in Gaza, the attacks in the Gaza Strip do not stop:
Every hour lost puts countless lives at risk. “We can keep famine at bay, but only if we deliver enough supplies and have safe access to all those in need, wherever they are,” said WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain.
“Virtually all Palestinians in Gaza skip meals every day, while many adults go hungry so that children can eat,” the WHO said.
UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell warned that children at high risk of dying from malnutrition and disease need urgent medical treatment, clean water and sanitation, but conditions on the ground do not allow them to be reached safely.
The children's agency estimates that 335,000 children under five are at particular risk in Gaza, while child wasting will increase by almost 30 percent in the coming weeks compared to conditions before the crisis, which began on Friday, October 7 could.
“Some of the material we urgently need to repair and increase water supplies is still not allowed to enter the Gaza Strip. “The lives of children and their families are at stake,” emphasized the UNICEF boss.
The authorities requested urgent permission from Israel to use the port of Ashdod, about 40 kilometers north, to enable the shipment of larger quantities of aid and the subsequent direct transport by truck to the severely affected northern regions of the Gaza Strip.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that 260 Palestinians were killed and another 577 injured between January 12 and 14.
Civilians faced sustained Israeli shelling and fighting on the ground in much of the enclave, OCHA added in its latest update, which also renewed calls for the release of hostages.