Despite the scarcity of food, people gather for a group breakfast in what is available in Rafah (Anatolia)
The United Nations confirmed on Thursday that there is no alternative to delivering aid by land to save lives in the Gaza Strip, noting that obstacles to aid still exist, and warning that time is running out, while more than 1.1 million people in Gaza face the risk of famine.
In a press conference today, United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric stressed the necessity of sending humanitarian aid shipments to Gaza without interruption, in order to save the lives of children.
Dujarric said that the head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the occupied Palestinian territory, Andrea Di Domenico, visited one of the four hospitals that partially provide the service in northern Gaza.
He added, citing information he received from Di Domenico, that the hospital receives about 15 children suffering from malnutrition every day. He stressed the need to send humanitarian aid shipments to Gaza without interruption in order to save the lives of children.
He pointed out that humanitarian aid continues to be prevented from entering the region, despite the World Food Program’s announcement that nearly 70% of northern Gaza faces terrible hunger.
He pointed out that the World Food Program was only able to send 11 aid convoys to northern Gaza this month to bring food to about 74,000 people. Stressing that daily shipments are necessary to prevent famine. Access barriers to aid remain and time is running out.
In violation of international laws, Israel restricts the entry of aid into Gaza, especially by land, which has led to a scarcity of food, medicine and fuel supplies in the Strip, which it has besieged for 17 years, according to the United Nations.
The devastating Israeli war on Gaza, which has been ongoing since October 7, left tens of thousands of civilian martyrs, most of them children and women, and massive destruction of infrastructure and property, as well as a famine that claimed the lives of children and the elderly, according to Palestinian and UN data.
Israel continues this war despite the issuance of a resolution by the UN Security Council, on Monday, demanding an immediate ceasefire during the month of Ramadan, and also despite its first appearance before the International Court of Justice on charges of committing genocide.
Source: Al Jazeera + agencies