Asking Israel to halt its policy of systematic starvation, UN declares its aid mission to Gaza the ‘most hindered in recent history’. Gaza is the “hungriest place on Earth” and its population is threatened by famine, the United Nations warns, as Palestinians are shot, starved and displaced by the Israeli military.
Asking Israel to end its campaign of intentional starvation and open the door to food into the besieged enclave, the UN on Friday declared its mission to assist Gaza’s Palestinians the “most obstructed in recent history.”.
The assistance operation we have prepared to go is being placed in an operational straitjacket which makes it one of the most hindered assistance operations, not just in the world today, but in history,” said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) spokesman, Jens Laerke.
He stated that out of 900 aid trucks approved to come in from the Israeli side of the Karem Abu Salem crossing, or Kerem Shalom in Israel, fewer than 600 were offloaded in Gaza, and a smaller quantity of aid had been taken up for distribution.
“I don’t have any flour, no oil, no sugar, no food. I gather bread that’s gone mouldy and I feed it to my children. I wish I could get a bag of flour for my children. I wish I could eat. I’m hungry,” said a Palestinian to Al Jazeera.
Speaking from Gaza City, Al Jazeera correspondent Hani Mahmoud stated that the northern section of the Strip, including Gaza City, “has not received a drop of aid that has been permitted in the last few days”.
“Others in the central region, in the [southern] city of Khan Younis and Rafah are also fighting daily to secure food supplies, especially flour and other necessities to keep them going through these hard times,” he continued.
