UN warns more than 5 million people in war-torn Gaza are “one step away” from famine

Famine is “imminent” in northern Gaza, where no humanitarian groups have been able to provide aid since January 23, the World Food Program warned on Tuesday, as Israel launches war on Palestinian group Hamas.

As a serious humanitarian emergency unfolds in the Gaza Strip and the main UN aid agency there struggles to cope, other bodies have appealed for help to reach thousands of Palestinians in desperate need.

WFP Deputy Executive Director Carl Schau told the UN Security Council, “If nothing changes, famine in northern Gaza is imminent,” while his colleague at the UN humanitarian office OCHA, Ramesh Rajasingham, called widespread starvation “almost inevitable.” Gave warning.

“Here we are at the end of February, at least 576,000 people in Gaza – a quarter of the population – one step away from famine, with one in six children under the age of two in northern Gaza suffering from severe malnutrition and Waste,” Rajasingham said.

Maurizio Martina, deputy director-general of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), has warned that about 97 percent of groundwater in Gaza is “reportedly unsuitable for human consumption” and agricultural production is in decline.

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

Stephane Dujarric told reporters, “WFP partners have also told us that they have food supplies at the border with Gaza, and with certain conditions they will be able to feed 2.2 million people across the entire strip.”

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

But Israeli forces are “systematically” blocking access to Gaza, OCHA spokesman Jens Larcke said in Geneva on Tuesday.

All planned aid convoys to the north have been rejected by Israeli authorities in recent weeks.

According to the World Health Organization, permission was last given on January 23.

Meanwhile, the main UN aid agency in Gaza, UNRWA, is “at breaking point”, its chief said last week, as donors cut off funding, Israel presses to destroy the body and humanitarian aid The needs are increasing.

The Security Council must act, other agencies told the 15-member body.

“We must all double down and step up our responsibilities to make sure something like this doesn’t happen on our watch,” Skau said.

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