United Nations officials have accused Israel of “systematically” blocking aid from reaching desperate Palestinians in Gaza, warning that at least a quarter of the enclave's population was one step away from famine if measures were not taken. urgent measures.
Tuesday's warnings came as images from northern Gaza showed Israeli forces opening fire again on Palestinians gathering to collect food in the area.
It was not immediately clear whether the shooting resulted in deaths or injuries.
Israel's war on Gaza, now in its fifth month, has killed at least 29,878 Palestinians, most of them women and children. The assault began after Hamas – the armed group that rules Gaza – launched attacks inside Israel on October 7, killing some 1,139 people and taking another 253 captive.
Israel's subsequent military campaign – which included daily airstrikes, a ground offensive in northern and central Gaza and the closure of all but one crossing point into the territory – has devastated much of the Palestinian enclave and triggered a worsening humanitarian crisis.
“As of the end of February, at least 576,000 people in Gaza – a quarter of the population – are one step away from famine,” Ramesh Rajasingham, deputy head of the UN humanitarian agency (OCHA), told the press conference. . UN Security Council (UNSC).
One in six children under two years of age in northern Gaza suffer from acute malnutrition and wasting and virtually all of the 2.3 million people in the Palestinian enclave depend on “woefully inadequate” food aid to survive, he told the meeting on food security in Gaza.
“If nothing is done, we fear that widespread famine in Gaza will be almost inevitable and that the conflict will have many more victims,” he said.
Rajasingham added that the UN and aid groups face “overwhelming obstacles just to get minimal supplies to Gaza.” These include crossing closures, restrictions on movement and communication, onerous investigation procedures, riots, damaged roads and unexploded ordnance, he said.
In Geneva, Jens Laerke, another OCHA spokesman, told reporters that Israel's actions made it almost impossible to deliver aid to Gaza.
“Aid convoys have been attacked and people in need are systematically denied access. Aid workers have been harassed, intimidated or detained by Israeli forces, and humanitarian infrastructure has been attacked,” he stated.
The World Food Program (WFP) said it was “ready to rapidly expand and expand our operations if there is a ceasefire agreement.”
Meanwhile, “the risk of famine is fueled by the inability to bring critical food supplies to Gaza in sufficient quantities and the almost impossible operational conditions faced by our staff on the ground,” said Carl Skau, WFP deputy executive director. the UNSC.
“If nothing changes, a famine is imminent in northern Gaza,” he added.
Earlier this month, the WFP suspended food aid deliveries to northern Gaza, which has been almost completely cut off from aid since late October, after its convoys were attacked by Israeli gunfire and looted by desperate and hungry Palestinians. .
UN agencies say Israeli authorities have in recent weeks denied all planned aid convoys to the north of the territory. The last time entry was allowed was on January 23, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
A spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said hundreds of trucks carrying aid were ready and waiting at the Gaza-Egypt border.
“WFP colleagues tell us that they have food supplies on the border with Gaza and, with certain conditions, they could expand feeding to 2.2 million people” throughout the Strip, Stéphane Dujarric told reporters.
“Almost 1,000 trucks carrying 15,000 metric tons of food are in Egypt ready to move,” he said.
Israel, however, denied blocking the aid.
Speaking at the UN Security Council, Israel's deputy ambassador to the UN, Jonathan Miller, responded that “it is not Israel that is holding up these trucks”, and instead blamed the UN, which he said, must distribute aid “more effectively.”
“There is no limit to the amount of humanitarian aid that can be sent to the civilian population of Gaza,” he said, adding that since the beginning of 2024, Israel had only rejected 16 percent of requests for aid delivery and those were were due to risks of shipments ending up in the hands of Hamas.
The desperate situation in Gaza prompted a rebuke from the United States.
Robert Wood, deputy US ambassador to the UN, urged his ally Israel to keep border crossings open for humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza and to facilitate [the] opening of more crossings.
“Simply put, Israel must do more,” he said. “We continue to call on Israel to improve conflict resolution procedures to ensure that aid can flow safely.”
