The UN Rescue Chief warns that it is “rotten” at the Gaza border as Israel continues to infringe humanitarian law on March 18th.
Palestinians in Gaza say the UN Relief chief has survived with canned food as fresh produce has been “rotten” at Gaza’s closed border as the UN rescue chief has started 10 days ago.
OCHA Humanitarian Director Tom Fletcher told the UN Security Council that all entrances to Gaza have been closed to cargoes “which are “corrupted, drugs expired and packed with critical medical devices.”
“International humanitarian law prohibits indiscriminate attacks, obstructing life-saving assistance, destroying infrastructure essential to the survival of civilians, and hostages.
All entry points to Gaza are closed. At the border, food is corrupted. The medicine has expired. A critical medical device is stuck. pic.twitter.com/mqkyexzyvi
– Tom Fletcher (@unreliefchief) March 28, 2025
Fletcher’s comments came as the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) reported on Friday that “5,700 tonnes of food stock remain in Gaza, only enough to support the WFP business for up to two weeks.”
The organization says food prices have risen significantly amid the Israeli lockdown, bringing a 25kg (55 pounds) bag of flour up to $50, a “400% increase compared to prices before March 18th.”
Since the beginning of March, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced that Hamas will be banned from entering Gaza until he agrees to extend the first phase of the January ceasefire deal.
However, the Palestinian group refused to extend the first phase and pushed for its advancement to the second phase.
“Canned food”
In the market in Jabaria in northern Gaza, groceries are limited to canned and expensive vegetables.
Vegetable seller Mustafa Khomade told Al Jazeera that the price of the item is too high and it is “almost empty” for people to buy.
“The price of kilo (£2.2) tomatoes has tripled. We can hardly afford groceries for our family. We can imagine how others are dealing with it,” Homeid said.
For Ahmed Balosha, a displaced person in Jabaria, the rise in prices means that his family has not had fresh meat “more than a year.”
“We’re surviving with canned food, bread and cheese. That’s all,” he said.
Amid the worsening food crisis, Gaza continues to be under heavy fires from Israeli attacks.
Since Israel resumed the war on March 18th, nearly 900 Palestinians have been killed, and the overall death toll of 50,251 has increased since the war began on October 7th, 2023.
Hamas’ attacks on southern Israel on October 7th killed 1,139 people, and about 250 were considered prisoners of war, sparking the current war.
