The Palestinian health minister reports that at least 29 children and elderly people have recently died from “starvation-related” deaths in the Gaza Strip, citing the fact that thousands more are in danger as limited aid enters the devastated area.
According to Majed Abu Ramadan, the UN’s director of aid to the BBC had earlier stated that 14, 000 babies could die without desperately needing food aid, which was “very realistic” but could be underestimated.
In response to the country’s string of international condemnations of its 11-week total blockade, which sparked fears of widespread famine, Israel has restricted humanitarian aid to Gaza.
However, UN officials claim that Gaza’s population needs are met by “nowhere near enough” aid to supply the region’s displaced people.
On Thursday, about 90 truckloads of aid entered Gaza, but Abu Ramadan claimed the majority of what was permitted was “flour for bakeries.”
A few bakeries in Gaza are baking bread again after receiving limited supplies overnight, according to the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) on Thursday afternoon.
“This is a crucial first step, but the assistance needs to be increased. More food is required to reduce the threat of famine. The organization stated in a post on X that “bread alone cannot provide enough for people to survive.”
Younis al-Khatib, the president of the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), earlier claimed that many Palestinians had not yet received any supplies. According to al-Khatib, “No civilian has yet received anything.”
He claimed that the southern Gaza crossing known as Kerem Shalom to Israelis, where the majority of the aid trucks are still located.
The Israeli military has continued to launch attacks across the Strip as deliveries are limited, according to medical sources who have reported for Al Jazeera that at least 51 Palestinians have been killed since Thursday morning.
Since Israel’s war on Gaza started in October 2023, at least 53, 655 Palestinians have died and more than 121, 000 have been injured, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee also announced new forced evacuation orders for Palestinians in northern Gaza’s Jabalia and Beit Lahiya. He stated in a post on X that the army would “significantly expand its military activity” in the area.
Drop in the ocean
Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, a reporter from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, claimed that while Palestinians have welcomed the aid, it is a “drop in the ocean” in comparison to the population’s requirements.
According to Abu Azzoum, “Five hundred aid trucks are required every day to stop the territory’s current food crisis.”
Ahmed Abed al-Daym, a resident of Gaza, called the aid trucks a “positive sign” in the midst of grim conditions.
He told Al Jazeera, “Our homes are empty, and our children are going hungry.”
Bread has completely vanished in many households. A steady, sufficient flow of flour and other necessities is what people absolutely need. Unfortunately, the lack of funding so far falls short of what we need.
No one is safe in the besieged enclave, according to Reem Zidiah, a resident.
We don’t think about tomorrow because we don’t know what will happen tomorrow, Zidiah told Al Jazeera. “We don’t think about tomorrow,” she said.
Action Against Hunger teams on the ground in southern Gaza also issued a warning that children in southern Gaza face acute malnutrition after only seven days of receiving food.
The humanitarian organization’s head of Middle East operations, Natalia Anguera, stated that “some bakeries in the south have resumed operations.”
Source: Aljazeera
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