More than 59,000 people killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, since Israel’s war on Gaza began in October 2023, at least 59,821 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and 144,851 wounded.
In the past 24 hours, Israeli attacks across the enclave have killed at least 88 people and injured 374. At the same time, hospitals recorded six new deaths due to malnutrition, bringing the total number of deaths from the starvation crisis to 133, including 87 children.
One-third of Gaza has not eaten ‘for days’: World Food Programme
The statistics from the World Food Programme (WFP) highlight the sheer scale of the hunger crisis in Gaza.
A third of Palestinians in Gaza have not eaten for days, and nearly half a million are enduring “famine-like conditions”, the UN agency said.
“An agreed ceasefire is the only way for humanitarian assistance to reach the entire civilian population in Gaza with critical food supplies in a consistent, predictable, orderly and safe manner – wherever they are across the Gaza Strip,” the WFP said in a statement.
“The WFP has enough food in – or on its way to – the region to feed the entire population of 2.1 million people for almost three months,” the statement added.
‘Now is the time for action,’ says WFP chief
The executive director at the UN’s World Food Programme, Cindy McCain, says now is the time for action amid pauses in Israeli fighting to allow the increase of urgent aid deliveries in the enclave.
In a post responding to a statement by the WFP calling for a ceasefire and stressing the importance of food aid, McCain said that the new Israeli measures were necessary to allow for a surge in food assistance.
“[The] WFP has teams on the ground and enough food to reach people in need across the Gaza Strip at scale,” McCain wrote.
