Rome, 8 December 2023 (TDI): The World Food Program issued a statement warning that the restart of hostilities in Gaza could worsen the region’s rising humanitarian crisis.
However, the seven-day truce gave the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) and its collaborators a break to speed up relief efforts.
During that period, we were able to double the number of distribution points outside of shelters and transport food to previously inaccessible areas, including those in the north. In just one week, the World Food Program reached about 250,000 individuals.
The intensified conflict is causing a significant loss of progress, has made aid distribution nearly impossible, and poses a risk to humanitarian workers’ lives.
The crisis has primarily affected Gaza’s civilian population of over 2 million Palestinians, whose only source of sustenance depends on food aid.
As per United Nations (UN) reports, over 1.8 million people in Gaza, or 80% of the population, are internally displaced, primarily in overcrowded UNRWA facilities with poor hygiene access. The 2.3 million inhabitants lack food and clean water and face malnutrition.
Additionally, humanitarians demand safe, unrestricted access to life-saving supplies, emphasizing the importance of upholding human rights responsibilities.
Furthermore, the World Food Programme (WFP) urges authorities to find political solutions to stop the devastation of families in Gaza, calling for a humanitarian truce and immediate action to avoid a humanitarian crisis.
Also Read: WFP provides critical food aid to 120,000 in Gaza
Samer Abdel Jaber, WFP Palestine’s representative and country director, announced that “the latest Gaza Food Security Assessment is available, and the results are alarming.”
Alarming Food Security Assessment
According to him, almost no one in Gaza has enough food to survive. In certain areas, 9 out of 10 people have spent an entire day and night without eating.
Cindy McCain, Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme, stated that two months of fighting had resulted in indescribable loss of life, destruction, and pain. Thousands of people have been executed, and millions have been displaced.
Additionally, the humanitarian system is collapsing, and everyone in Gaza is starving. Meanwhile, the WFP supports Antonio Guterres’ call for a humanitarian truce.
