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UN says flour deliveries fall short of what’s needed
The UN’s humanitarian office (OCHA) says only approximately 5,600 tonnes of wheat flour has been allowed into Gaza between May 19 and this morning.
“Most of this assistance was offloaded by hungry people, and in some cases by armed criminals, before reaching warehouses or designated distribution points,” the agency said in an update on the situation.
Between 8,000 and 10,000 tonnes are required to provide at least one page of wheat flour to every household in Gaza, the agency added.
Here’s more from OCHA’s latest update:
- As of June 9, 258,000 meals were prepared and delivered through 62 kitchens, a 76 percent drop compared with the number of meals delivered at the end of April.
- A lack of consistent food deliveries has seen wheat flour prices soar to “unprecedented levels”.
- More than 70 percent of Gaza’s fishing infrastructure has been destroyed or damaged, “but some fishers have continued to work within less than one nautical mile [1.85km] from the shore using non-motorised boats”.
- In May, 5,149 Palestinian children were diagnosed with acute malnutrition in the territory.
Palestinian children wait to receive a hot meal distributed by charity organisations, in Gaza City on June 11
That's 243 tonnes avg a day, 4 ounces per person per day, which makes about one muffin a day. That is, if you had suger, eggs and milk to make muffins, and not most of the aid was taken before it got to the bakeries.
UN expert urges Egypt to facilitate aid convoy’s entry to Gaza
Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur in the occupied Palestinian territories, has urged the Egyptian authorities to “facilitate the speedy passage of those human beings who have left everything behind trying to break” Israel’s siege on Gaza.
As we reported earlier, Israel’s defence minister called on Egypt to block a land convoy seeking to bring humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip via the Rafah border crossing.
Israel Katz said he expected Egypt to “prevent them from reaching the Egypt-Israel border and not allow them to carry out provocations and try to enter Gaza”.
Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement earlier today that all requests to reach the border area with Gaza must adhere to established procedures, including submitting an official request to the ministry.
The statement did not say explicitly whether Cairo would block the activists from reaching Gaza.
Egypt is on US' payroll which is under Israeli control... Egypt will keep the border shut for the US.
Gaza needs urgent reopening of crossings to avoid famine, UN says
A senior United Nations official has warned that only a full reopening of Gaza’s border crossings and unrestricted humanitarian access can prevent further deterioration of the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in the territory.
“The only way to address the situation on the ground is by reopening additional crossings,” said Olga Cherevko, speaking from Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on behalf of the UN’s humanitarian affairs office (OCHA).
She stressed that aid deliveries must not only include food but also “an unlimited and unfettered supply of aid” such as shelter materials, fuel, cooking gas, and “other necessary elements to sustain life in Gaza”.
Cherevko also called on Israeli authorities to do more to facilitate the delivery of aid. That includes “providing a safe and enabling environment”, reducing long delays for humanitarian missions, and ensuring aid workers can reach people in need.
According to OCHA, only 6,000 tonnes of wheat flour have entered Gaza since Israel partially resumed aid flows last month.
In a statement, it said: “We reiterate in the strongest terms possible that no one should be forced to risk their lives to receive aid – as people across Gaza are at risk of famine.”
