Half of Gaza population suffering extreme hunger

The UN said on Wednesday that half of the population of the Gaza Strip suffers from severe or acute hunger, and that 90 per cent are regularly deprived of food for an entire day.

Although 127 trucks of aid and goods entered the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported these supplies are not sufficient to meet the basic needs of the population.

The report stated that only ten per cent of the currently necessary food supplies entered the Gaza Strip during the last 70 days.

Yesterday, the World Food Programme (WFP) announced that an aid convoy arrived after departing from Jordan, the first from the Kingdom to the Strip since the outbreak of the war, and that this happened after “weeks of coordination with all parties”.

WFP said in a statement that 46 trucks, organised by them and the Jordanian Hashemite Charitable Organisation, transported more than 750 metric tons of essential food supplies.

WFP country director and emergency coordinator in Palestine, Samer Abdel Jaber, was quoted as saying, “Establishing a corridor through Jordan will enhance the flow of aid, and remove some of the pressure and congestion that we are currently facing...this will allow us to secure more supplies and keep more trucks on the road.”

The statement stressed that “delivering food supplies...via the Kerem Shalom crossing will increase the volume and speed of food access to the Gaza Strip, where millions face the risk of dying from hunger.”

Last Friday, Israel “temporarily” allowed the transfer of aid to Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing between it and the Gaza Strip, which contributed to opening a new supply route after weeks of pressure. Before that, the only land outlet for aid was the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.