Famine rages in Gaza as humanitarian agencies struggle to deliver food to the north of the enclave, the head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has warned.
Humanitarian aid has not reached residents of northern Gaza for more than a month, Philippe Lazzarini said on Sunday.
“The last time UNRWA was able to deliver food aid to northern Gaza was on January 23,” Lazzarini wrote on social media.
Aid agencies say Israel has delayed deliveries. Tel Aviv denies the accusation as it prepares to report to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the measures it took to avoid suffering in the besieged enclave.
Lazzarini said calls to allow food distribution to Gaza amid ongoing hostilities between Israel and Hamas have been rejected or “fell on deaf ears.”
Warning of an “impending famine”, the UN official said the situation was becoming a “man-made disaster”.
The last time @UNRWA was able to deliver food aid to the north #Gaza It was January 23.
Since then, with others @UN agencies, we have:
🛑 Warned of imminent famine.
🛑 Call for regular humanitarian access.
🛑 Said that starvation can be avoided if more food…– Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) February 25, 2024
At least 500,000 people are facing famine while almost the entire population of Gaza, 2.3 million people, is experiencing severe food shortages, according to figures from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
On Sunday, a two-month-old Palestinian boy died of starvation, according to reports.
Obstacles to aid delivery
Israel – which controls Gaza’s border crossings – has opened only one entry point into the enclave since the start of the war and has imposed “endless control procedures” for the passage of trucks, according to UN agencies.
Right-wing Israeli protesters also blocked aid convoys at the Karem Abu Salem crossing point – known as Kerem Shalom to Israelis – to southern Gaza, saying the Palestinian people should not receive aid. ‘help.
Since February 9, the average number of trucks entering Gaza daily has been around 55, compared to 500 before the conflict began, according to OCHA.
The agency reports that the flow has further decreased significantly in recent days. Palestinian police officers stopped providing escorts after at least eight were killed in Israeli attacks in southern Rafah, according to UNRWA and US officials.
This caused others to leave their posts, paving the way for a breakdown of civil order. Last week, the World Food Program (WFP) announced the suspension of aid deliveries to northern Gaza after crowds of hungry people robbed their goods and beat a driver.
Convoys also faced fire, with video verified on social media showing Palestinians fleeing for cover amid the sound of gunfire and clouds of smoke from smoke bombs. Palestinian children are also seen picking up flour spilled on the ground.
The lack of Israeli aid is further complicating deliveries, UN agencies say.
According to OCHA, the majority of aid missions between January 1 and February 15 in northern Gaza – 39 out of 77 – were refused by Israel and less than 20 percent were facilitated by Israeli authorities.
‘Without limits’
However, Israel denies obstructing the delivery of aid.
“There is no limit to the amount of humanitarian aid that can be sent to the civilian population of Gaza and northern Gaza,” wrote the Israeli Coordination Office for Activities in Palestine (COGAT) in an article on X.
Israel is due to report to the ICJ on Monday on what it has done to pave the way for increased humanitarian aid deliveries – one of the measures Israel has been ordered to comply with by the court’s highest court. UN last month to prevent genocide in Gaza.
But Human Rights Watch said Monday that Israel was not complying with the court order, citing a 30 percent drop in the average number of aid trucks entering Gaza daily in the weeks since.
“The Israeli government has simply ignored the court’s decision and, in some ways, even intensified its repression, including by further blocking vital aid,” said Omar Shakir, the agency’s director for Israel and Palestine.
Meanwhile, UN chief Antonio Guterres warned that a large-scale Israeli military operation in the southern town of Rafah would “put the final nail in the coffin” of aid programs in Gaza.