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full screen Palestinian children queue for a free meal in Rafah on February 16. Photo: Fatima Shbair/AP/TT
The UN Food Program (WFP) is pausing its deliveries to the northern Gaza Strip. The situation in the area is too chaotic, according to WFP.
The decision has not been taken lightly, says a press release. Pausing emergency aid means that the humanitarian situation worsens further and that more people are at risk of starving to death.
“Over the past two days, our employees witnessed unprecedented levels of desperation,” they write.
WFP emergency aid deliveries to the northern Gaza Strip resumed on Sunday after a three-week hiatus due to a lack of security. But the first convoy was “surrounded by crowds of hungry people” and then fired upon upon arrival in Gaza City. Monday’s convoy was met by “complete chaos and violence due to the collapse of public order”, writes WFP.
“Several trucks were looted between Khan Yunis and Deir al-Balah and a truck driver was beaten. The flour that was left was handed out bit by bit under high tension and explosive anger,” the UN agency writes.
Aid organizations have repeatedly warned of an impending famine in the northern Gaza Strip. Food and clean water are in short supply and diseases are spreading faster. The situation is worsening day by day, WFP states.
According to the UN agency, people in the area are already dying from famine-related ailments. More and more of Gaza’s children are reported to be suffering from acute malnutrition.