GAZA, (PIC)
The UN World Food Program (WFP) has warned that the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip has reached a “critical point,” telling Al Jazeera satellite channel it has already depleted its remaining food stocks and is now unable to feed the population.
WFP spokeswoman Abeer Etefa stated on Wednesday that around 700,000 people used to receive meals each day from the program, but the failure to bring more aid into Gaza stopped this food support.
Etefa added that many trucks carrying aid are now stranded at the Gaza border crossings without being able to enter in order for the program to resume serving meals to the hungry.
“We may see deaths from malnutrition as the crossings remain closed,” she warned.
During the brief truce earlier this year, the WFP managed to deliver between 30,000 and 40,000 tons of aid. However, that flow of aid has stopped, leaving the Gazans at increasing risk of large-scale famine.
In the same context, Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) had described the situation in Gaza as “catastrophic on all levels” due to the Israeli blockade that prevents the entry of humanitarian and medical supplies.
The organization’s emergency director, Claire Nicolet, said in press remarks that the International Court of Justice’s decision to start advisory proceedings regarding Israel’s obligations as an occupying power to allow the delivery of humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in Gaza would take time that Gazans cannot afford.
Nicolet accused Israel of using aid as a “weapon of war and a means of collective punishment,” adding that “since March 2, Israel’s complete blockade on the entry of humanitarian aid and supplies has had deadly consequences for civilians and has crippled the ability of medical and aid workers to respond meaningfully.”
“MSF teams on the ground are witnessing critical shortages of medical supplies and food,” she said. “Governments must increase pressure on Israeli authorities to lift the blockade and allow large-scale humanitarian access to this devastated area, to prevent further suffering and loss of life.”
