The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees has sounded the alarm over the potential for famine in Gaza, following warnings from the United States to Israel to improve humanitarian aid deliveries to the beleaguered territory.
Speaking at a press conference in Berlin, Philippe Lazzarini, the chief of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), warned that "there is a real risk today... that we enter a situation where famine or acute malnutrition is unfortunately again a likelihood."
He cited the upcoming winter and the already compromised immune systems of Gaza's population, as reported by AFP.
Israel’s retaliatory assault on Gaza, which followed the Hamas attack on 7 October last year, has left vast areas of the territory in ruins.
The Israeli military has since intensified operations in the northern parts of the region, where the United Nations has warned that hundreds of thousands of civilians are trapped.
Lazzarini described Gaza's humanitarian situation as dire, stating that it had "become a kind of wasteland, which I would say is almost unliveable."
Regarding the flow of aid into the territory, Lazzarini revealed that "over the last two to three weeks, there was no convoy entering into the north except yesterday."
He noted that aid convoys entering southern Gaza had drastically decreased, with an average of only 50 to 60 trucks for a population of two million people, far below the estimated need.
He also reported that some of the convoys that managed to enter were looted due to the "total breakdown of law and order" in the region. However, Lazzarini stressed that a hunger crisis could still be averted if more convoys, particularly those carrying food, were allowed to enter Gaza. He questioned, "We have shown that we can have a polio campaign, so why can we not bring food?"
On Tuesday, the US State Department revealed that Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had sent a joint letter urging the Israeli government to make changes to facilitate aid deliveries. The letter emphasised that the level of assistance entering Gaza remained at "very, very low levels" and needed to increase.
A day later, Austin spoke with Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, encouraging Israel to "continue taking steps to address the dire humanitarian situation," according to a Pentagon statement.
COGAT, the Israeli military body responsible for civilian affairs in Palestinian territories, announced on Wednesday that "50 trucks carrying humanitarian aid—including food, water, medical supplies, and shelter equipment provided by Jordan—were transferred today to northern Gaza."
Meanwhile, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, dismissed claims of insufficient aid, stating that the real issue was Hamas, which he accused of hijacking the aid and using it to support their operations.
"The problem is Hamas, which hijacks the aid, stealing, storing and selling it to feed their terror machine, while civilians suffer," Danon remarked.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, in an interview with Germany’s Bild newspaper, also defended the country's efforts, stating, "We are doing everything to let the international community supply humanitarian aid to Gaza."
He added, "I think that we did, and are doing, more than any other country ever did for their enemies."
