THE UNITED Nations World Food Programme’s (WFP’s) food stocks in Gaza are completely depleted, as Israel’s aid blockade continues for a ninth week.
The WFP confirmed last Friday that it has ‘delivered its last remaining food stocks’ in Gaza to local kitchens, which it anticipates will run out of food entirely ‘in the coming days’.
More than 400,000 people in Gaza rely on WFP aid, leaving them with little recourse if this lifeline fails.
Since March 2nd, Israel has fully blocked all aid supplies, including food, medicine and fuel from entering Gaza, defying a 2024 World Court order to facilitate entry of humanitarian assistance.
Food stockpiled during a nearly two-month ceasefire earlier this year has largely been exhausted, while prices for what little food is left on the open market have surged by 1,400 per cent, according to the WFP.
Gaza’s Government Media Office has warned the dwindling food supplies could push ‘thousands of Palestinian families’ into starvation.
The GMO reports that 52 people, including 50 children, have died of hunger and malnutrition, while more than one million children go hungry every day.
Despite the humanitarian crisis, Israel has shown no signs of reversing the blockade. Last week, Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israel would keep blocking aid, describing it as a tactic to ‘pressure’ Hamas.
Israel’s military has repeatedly accused Hamas of exploiting aid – a claim the group denies – and argues it must keep all supplies out to prevent the fighters from getting it.
However, some of Israel’s closest allies have publicly condemned the strategy, with Germany, France and the United Kingdom last Wednesday calling the action ‘intolerable’, warning that it is increasing the risk of ‘starvation, epidemic disease and death’.
Rights groups call the blockade, which began on March 2nd, a ‘starvation tactic’ and a ‘potential war crime’.
Markets across Gaza are nearly bare, and charity kitchens are out of food. Meat, milk, cheese and fruit have vanished. Vegetables, when found, are priced beyond reach.
Doctors warn that the lack of protein and nutrients is already causing a sharp increase in child malnutrition and thousands are suffering acute cases.
At one market, tomatoes sell for 50 shekels a kilo, nearly $14, compared with less than $1 before the war.
WFP executive director Cindy McCain warned: ‘There is nothing left. There is no place to go for food anymore. Food is not political and to make food political is something that is unconscionable.’
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) announced on Sunday that its flour supplies in the Gaza Strip have been depleted.
UNRWA stated: ‘Hunger is deepening in Gaza. People, including many children, are hoping to get some food to survive, during a warm meal distribution by charitable organisations. Yesterday WFP announced that it has fully depleted its food stocks in Gaza.’
UNRWA said currently, ‘nearly 3,000 UNRWA trucks of lifesaving aid are ready to enter Gaza’, but Israel continues to block their entry.
