Thousands of Gaza children are at risk of imminent death after the total Israeli blockade in a besieged enclave that spread hunger, the UN Relief Prime Minister warns.
This puts 14,000 babies at risk of dying in the next 48 hours, Tom Fletcher said in an interview with the BBC on Tuesday.
“We need to flood the Gaza Strip with humanitarian aid,” said the UN Humanitarian Commander, describing the situation as “cold.”
All food, medicine and other life-saving assistance had been blocked by Israel from entering Gaza from March 2nd. As of Monday, the first time since then trickle of aid was granted, but it was not distributed immediately.
Speaking to the European Humanitarian Forum in Brussels on Tuesday, Philip Lazarini, head of the Palestinian Refugee Agency (UNRWA), said the relief organization has exhausted its words to explain the horrors unfolding in Gaza in Israel’s hands.
“But the worst thing about all of this is that we are facing a situation. With political will, the war can be stopped. The siege imposed on Gaza could be lifted,” Lazarini said.
At least 57 children have reportedly died of malnutrition since early March.
Unsupported Integrated Food Security Stage (IPC) ratings say more than 93% of Gaza children, or about 930,000, are at risk of hunger
UNRWA Health Director Akihiro Seita added on Tuesday that the situation is getting worse “exponentially” and could soon reach a point where it “exceeds our control.”
Israel told the United Nations on Tuesday that it would allow 100 trucks carrying humanitarian aid to enter.
But UN spokesman Stephen Dujaric said that humanitarian assistance has not yet been distributed despite more supplies being dropped on the Palestinian side of the Kalem Abu Salem intersection.
Both moves have been roundly criticized to meet only the “sea calm” of Gaza’s humanitarian needs, and have been largely reduced to tile rubs due to Israeli air strikes and ground operations that expanded over the weekend.
Israeli attacks continue to kill dozens of Palestinians daily, including many children, but the rest of their infrastructure and aid supplies are being destroyed.
Deia Elbara, central Gaza city, announced Tuesday that the region’s last remaining drinking water source, the main well, was destroyed along with its generators on an Israeli strike.
This is not safe to face hunger, as more than 100,000 Palestinians have been kicked out of their homes and shelters in the past few days alone, according to the United Nations alone.
Israeli forces bombed the Nasser medical facility in Khan Eunice in southern Gaza on Tuesday, raiding life-saving medical supplies and destroying extensively across various hospital facilities, including oxygen lines and labs.
“In northern Gaza, Indonesian hospitals are surrounded by Israeli forces and patients cannot enter or leave,” said Hodhardy behind Al Jazeera.
“Except for Nasser and Indonesian hospitals, two other major hospitals in Gaza, Europe and Al Auda, have been bombed over the past few days and have been largely unserved,” she added.
UNICEF Communications Manager Tess Ingram explained to Al Jazeera why the hatching program by the US and Israel to control the distribution of aid in Gaza is unacceptable to the international community.
She said that while the UN and its international partners have 400 distribution points across Gaza to help Palestinians, only a handful of militarized points in southern Gaza will be used under the US and Israeli program.
“This means people have to come a long way to collect packets weighing up to 25kg. [55lb] And I’m back again,” she said.
On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed that “minimum” aid will be allowed to Gaza for diplomatic and political reasons as international pressure and condemnation are being directed at him and his government.
His far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben Gwil, said that while Israeli prisoners were filmed during the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, he was granting aid to Gaza, but that the fact that he was still retained within the enclave was a “significant mistake that would hinder our victory.”
A catastrophic military strike on Palestinian territory is escalating as Israeli forces and government continue to promise to “fall” Hamas.
Israeli forces attacked 100 targets in Gaza in the previous 24 hours on Tuesday afternoon, claiming they all were targets of “terrorists.”
At least 53,573 Palestinians have been killed and 121,688 have been injured since the start of the war, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.
Source link
