More than half a million people in war-torn Gaza are “just one step away” from famine, UN warns

In recent weeks, Israeli authorities have rejected all aid convoys planning to enter northern Gaza.

The World Food Program warned on Tuesday that famine in northern Gaza is “imminent” as Israel launches a war against the Palestinian group Hamas, with no humanitarian organization able to deliver aid since January 23.

As a dire humanitarian emergency emerges in the Gaza Strip, the United Nations’ main aid agency grapples with the response, and others are calling for help to reach tens of thousands of Palestinians in desperate need of aid.

“If nothing changes, northern Gaza will face famine,” Carl Skau, deputy executive director of the World Food Program, told the UN Security Council, while Ramesh, a colleague from the UN humanitarian office’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Ramesh Rajasingham warned that widespread famine was “almost inevitable”.

“As of the end of February, at least 576,000 people in Gaza – a quarter of the population – were one step away from famine, and one in six children under two years old in northern Gaza suffered from acute malnutrition and wasting,” La Jasingham said.

Maurizio Martina, deputy director-general of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), warned that some 97% of Gaza’s groundwater is “reportedly unfit for human consumption” and agricultural production is starting to collapse.

A spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also said on Tuesday that aid was ready and waiting at the border.

Stephane Dujarric told reporters, “WFP colleagues also told us that they have food supplies on the Gaza border and that under certain conditions they will be able to expand to provide food for up to 2.2 million people throughout the Gaza Strip.”

“Nearly 1,000 trucks carrying 15,000 tons of food are ready to go in Egypt,” he said.

But OCHA spokesman Jens Larke said in Geneva earlier on Tuesday that Israeli forces were “systematically” blocking access to Gaza.

In recent weeks, Israeli authorities have rejected all aid convoys planning to enter the north.

The last entry allowed was on January 23, according to the World Health Organization.

Meanwhile, the head of UNRWA, the main U.N. aid agency in Gaza, said last week that it was “on the verge of collapse” as donors freeze funding, Israeli pressure comes to dismantle the agency and humanitarian needs surge. .

Other agencies told the 15-member body that the Council must act.

“We all must redouble our efforts and fulfill our responsibilities to ensure this does not happen on our watch,” Scow said.

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