The months-long deprivation of most life-sustaining basic goods has led to a deepening of the crisis. More than 100 people were killed, and hundreds of others injured, along food convoy routes and near Israeli-militarised distribution hubs in the past two days alone.
As one in three people currently going days without food, OCHA reiterated that no one should ever be forced to risk their life to get something to eat.
Ted Chaiban, Deputy Director of UN children’s agency UNICEF, who is fresh from a visit to Gaza, noted that “the marks of deep suffering and hunger were visible on the face of families and children.”
He was briefing journalists in New York about his five-day visit in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel.
Grave risk of famine
“Gaza now faces a grave risk of famine,” he said, briefing journalists in New York about his five-day mission to the enclave, the West Bank and Israel.
“This is something that has been building up, but we now have two indicators that have exceeded the famine threshold.”
The crisis can only be addressed through unrestricted flow of aid into Gaza, with commercial supplies also allowed to enter to help address people’s needs.
Nearly a week since the Israeli announcement to allow the scale up of aid and tactical pauses to allow safe passage of UN convoys, OCHA reported that the aid that has entered Gaza so far remains insufficient, while UN convoys continue to face impediments and danger along the routes provided by the Israeli authorities.
“Civilians must always be protected and community-level aid delivery at scale must be facilitated, not obstructed,” said OCHA.
Starved, bombed and displaced
“The children I met are not victims of a natural disaster. They are being starved, bombed, and displaced,” Mr. Chaiban said. He noted that more than 18,000 boys and girls have been killed since the beginning of the war, “an average of 28 children a day, the size of a classroom, gone.”
While in Gaza, Mr. Chaiban met with the families of the 10 children killed and 19 injured by an Israeli airstrike as they were queuing for food with their mothers and fathers at a UNICEF-supported nutrition clinic in Deir Al-Balah.
Discussion with Israeli authorities
Engaging with Israeli authorities in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, UNICEF “pressed for a review of [Israel’s] military rules of engagement to protect civilians and children,” Mr. Chaiban said.
Simultaneously, UNICEF also called for more humanitarian aid and commercial traffic to come in to stabilise the situation and reduce the desperation of the population.
“Children should not be getting killed waiting in line at a nutrition centre or collecting water, and people should not be so desperate as to have to rush a convoy,” he said.
“What is happening on the ground is inhumane.” Mr. Chaiban said, hoping for a sustained ceasefire and a political way forward.
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