The head of the United Nations agency for the Palestinians (UNRWA) warned today of the “real risk” of famine this winter in Gaza Strip “although totally avoidable”, but orchestrated in his opinion by Israel, which that country rejects.
“We could enter a situation where hunger or extreme malnutrition are, unfortunately, possible again,” said Philippe Lazzarini during a press conference in Berlin.
Israel continues its operation against Hamas in the devastated Palestinian territory, which is now facing the “worst restrictions” on humanitarian aid in a year, according to the UN.
The head of UNRWA noted a “dramatic reduction” in the number of food aid convoys in the south “to an average of 50 to 60 for two million inhabitants”, as “we think the number needed is much, much higher”.
As for the north of the Gaza Strip, almost 400,000 people are trapped in the fighting and “it has become extremely difficult” for humanitarian aid to reach there.
“The famine in the Gaza Strip is artificially created,” he said, accusing Israel of “persistently preventing convoys from crossing the border.”
“Some members of the Israeli government are using hunger as a weapon of war,” he said.
On Tuesday, Washington upped the ante and threatened to suspend some of its military aid to Israel if the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip does not improve within 30 days.
So far, the United States has demonstrated unwavering support for Israel following the bloody Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations today rejected the accusations, saying that “more than a million tons of aid” had been delivered to the Gaza Strip.
“The problem is Hamas, which diverts (humanitarian) aid and sells it to feed its terrorist machine, while the civilian population suffers,” Danny Danon said in a statement.
Statements that echo the Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs, Israel Katz, in an interview with the German newspaper Bild: “We are doing everything to allow the international community to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza. I think we have done and are doing more than any other country has ever done for its enemies.”
Cogat, the Israeli military body responsible for supervising political affairs in the Palestinian Territories, assured in a message on Platform X that “50 trucks with humanitarian aid were transported on Wednesday to northern Gaza”.
In Berlin, Philipp Lazzarini said: “Children are bearing the brunt of this war” and “a million minors currently live in the ruins”.
These children are also particularly exposed to infectious diseases such as polio, which has resurfaced in the Gaza Strip for the first time in 25 years and is currently under a vaccination campaign to combat it.
Source: AMPE