Gaza (Quds News Network)- The United Nations has stated that Israel continues to block aid from reaching starving Palestinains in Gaza, despite announcing on Sunday that it would allow limited humanitarian assistance into the enclave.
Only five trucks of aid had reached Gaza by Tuesday afternoon and aid workers had not been given permission to distribute even that token shipment, Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN humanitarian office (Ocha) told a Geneva press briefing.
Israeli occupation authorities have approved “around 100” other trucks to enter Gaza but not yet let them cross, he said. Even that shipment would do little to reduce widespread hunger after 11 weeks of near total siege; it is just a fifth of what reached Gaza daily before the war, when people were well-fed.
Gaza’s Government Media Office confirmed on Tuesday that, since March 2, the Israeli occupation has blocked all humanitarian aid and fuel trucks from entering the Gaza Strip and has closed all border crossings, despite the urgent need for at least 44,000 trucks during this period to meet the population’s most basic needs.
Tom Fletcher, the UN’s under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, issued a stark warning that 14,000 babies are at risk of dying within the next 48 hours if humanitarian aid does not reach them—a figure he described as “utterly chilling”.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report, issued last week, warned that almost a quarter of the civilian population would face catastrophic levels of food insecurity (IPC Phase Five) in the coming months.
Axios reported that aid will enter through several international organizations until a new US-Israeli aid mechanism begins on May 24 which will forcibly expel over 2 million Palestinians to southern Gaza to advance Israel’s expansion goals.
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