UN says about 100 trucks approved to enter Gaza today
The UN humanitarian office’s spokesman Jens Laerke made the announcement at a news briefing in Geneva, calling it a major jump from the nine trucks cleared for entry yesterday.
He said the incoming trucks contain baby food and nutritious products for children. “The next step is to collect them, and then they will be distributed through the existing system, the one that has proven itself,” he added.
We will update you if and when the aid trucks are allowed into the Strip, as Israel has previously promised to let aid in, without following through.
No relief yet for Gaza’s hunger crisis
Israel has repeatedly denied there is a hunger crisis in Gaza. That’s despite the overwhelming evidence – images that come out of the devastated areas of children queueing in front of community kitchens to get food – and alarming reports issued by UN agencies.
UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, stated that over 92 percent of Gaza’s houses have been destroyed or damaged by the Israeli military, and they have repeatedly stated that Gaza is experiencing a full-blown famine.
Here on the ground, what we can see and have heard is that despite the Israeli decision to allow aid into Gaza, nothing has been transferred. They say Gaza needs approximately 500 humanitarian aid trucks and 50 fuel trucks to get in on a daily basis to alleviate the current crisis.
Israel is preparing to transfer the responsibility of the aid distribution process to the newly formed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which is expected to start operating by the end of this month through distribution hubs in the southern part of Gaza.
It means that people who are in desperate need will be forced to travel a long distance and encounter different security challenges to reach the aid distribution centres – an approach that’s been widely rejected by humanitarian organisations and countries in the region.
UN official warns 14,000 babies could die in next 48 hours without aid
Tom Fletcher, the UN’s under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, has warned 14,000 babies are at risk of dying in the next 48 hours if aid doesn’t reach them – a figure he called “utterly chilling”.
“We need to flood the Gaza Strip with humanitarian aid,” he said in an interview with the BBC. “I want to save as many of these 14,000 babies as we can in the next 48 hours.”
