Region
UNRWA says ending Gaza catastrophe requires urgent entry of massive aid quantities
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) confirmed that stopping the famine in Gaza City is possible, provided that Israel allows the immediate and large-scale entry of humanitarian aid.
In a brief post on its page on the social media platform X Saturday, the agency stated that ending the ongoing catastrophe requires the entry of massive quantities of aid through the United Nations, including UNRWA.
It added that its warehouses in both Jordan and Egypt are filled with the necessary supplies of food, medicine, and hygiene materials, sufficient to load 6,000 trucks.
This statement comes after the United Nations and international experts officially declared on Friday the widespread outbreak of famine in Gaza, marking the first such announcement regarding famine in the Middle East.
In a joint statement issued by Geneva, the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP), and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned that more than half a million people in the Strip are trapped in a state of famine.
These organizations called on Israel to ensure the unobstructed delivery of food and medical supplies to the population to reduce deaths caused by hunger and malnutrition.
Starvation in Gaza has worsened, and the death toll from malnutrition has risen since October 2023 to 272, including 113 children.
The Israeli occupation has intensified its blockade on the Gaza Strip, closing the crossings to aid trucks piled up at the borders, amid continued heavy bombardment of all areas of the Strip.
Since October 7, 2023, this has resulted in the martyrdom of 62,263 people and the injury of 157,365 others, in an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.