“” The fact that people are dying now every day trying to get food, I think it is the most striking illustration of the desperation of the situation“Said Carl Skau, deputy executive director of the United Nations agency, briefing journalists during his fourth visit to the enclave torn by the war.
Earlier this year, food security experts said famine is spreading to Gaza. The whole population, some two million people, is of food tremor and half a million is at the edge of the edge.
“If anything, it’s much worse now,” said Skau, who was in Gaza City, Deir Al-Balah and Khan Younis last week.
Children are hungry
Malnutrition is also skyrocketed. Some 90,000 children have an urgent need for treatment, according to the United Nations Child Rights Agency Unicef.
Today, one in three people hungry for days. Mr. Skau said he had met many families who told him that there were days when their children did not eat at all.
“But the days they eat, it’s often a hot soup that they get us with only a few lenses or a few pieces of pasta, so Certainly not enough“, He said, adding that some mothers discourage their children from playing to keep energy.
The senior official also discussed the generalized movement of Gaza. In the past, he met families who had been forced to flee two or three times, but Now, “I meet families who have moved two or three times in the last 10 days”, and some who have been uprooted more than 20 times.
Help runoff
Meanwhile, apart from the recent blockade of 80 days, the humanitarian response “has Never been more forced. The amount of assistance that humanitarian workers are able to bring to Gaza is “a fraction of what is necessary”, at a time when a kilo of wheat flour costs $ 25.
He added that the operating environment “is simply impossible”. Active military operations occur in approximately 85% of the Gaza territory and the teams “are blocked while waiting for clearances and control points, often passing between 15 and 20 hours in a row in their armored vehicles trying to escort our convoys.”
Other obstacles include lack of fuel, spare parts for vehicles and basic communication equipment.
Commitment with Israel
Mr. Skau said Wfp Actively engaged with the Israeli authorities in recent weeks and “there have been commitments” concerning questions such as volumes of aid, faster humanitarian movements and not having the Israel Defense forces (FDI) when the convoys move.
“Now, of course, the proof is in pudding,” he said. “We must now see the delivery and implementation on these commitments, and so far, we have not seen enough progress.”
He noted that WFP had been authorized to provide help in the North Friday for the first time in several days, which was “a key problem”.
“It is not only a question of obtaining enough volumes, but also of being able to enter the North, because in the North, we can deliver more ordered more,” he said.
He told journalists that “There have been problems with armed elements interfering“In the region, which is unacceptable, but stressed the importance of being able to deliver to it” because we think it is the means to help reduce the levels of despair and price. “”
Ceasefire now
Skau said that minor progress concerning commitments “will not be enough to turn the trend of hunger”, stressing the urgent need of a ceasefire in Gaza.
During the ceasefire earlier this year, WFP has facilitated more than 8,000 trucks in the enclave, opened 25 bakeries and hundreds of popular soups and delivered food packages to more than 1.5 million people.
The agency was also able to store its warehouses, which means that operations could continue for about half of the 80 -day blockade.
“We are ready to start again,” said Skau. “” We have enough food on the borders to deliver to the entire population for about two months. But obviously, we need this ceasefire, and we need conditions in this ceasefire. »»
Here, he underlined the need for a humanitarian protocol with a provision that allows multiple routes and entry points into and inside Gaza – as well as a secure environment for delivery.
Later, Mr. Skau was asked about the talks with Israel.
“I feel the recognition that conditions must improve,” he said. “” It has also been recognized that the UN has a key role to play“, He added.
“It was very clear in my commitment that they want the UN to continue to be the main delivery track.
“And if there was certainly a ceasefire, the indications were that they would like us to be ready to evolve and do what we did the last time we on the first day was ready to bring 600 trucks to Gaza. »»
Publicado anteriormente en Almouwatin.
