Nutritional food still in short supply in Gaza amid Israeli restrictions
Since the ceasefire took hold, there has been a lot of talk about humanitarian aid flowing into Gaza. But the amount Israel has allowed in is a trickle compared with what’s needed to sustain a population under siege for more than two years.
Many of the trucks that have been greenlighted are carrying non-essential, non-perishable dry goods. There are stacks of instant noodles, biscuits, chocolates and sugary stuff in the shops.
But the essentials are still in short supply, including nutritional products like vegetables, protein and dairy products. Eggs, for example, you don’t see anywhere.
Earlier, we saw a long queue of about 500 people at one shop that happened to sell chicken, an extreme rarity. The gap between need and reality is enormous, and it continues to unfold daily.
Aid efforts in Gaza stymied by Israel’s ‘bureaucratic impediments’: NGO
Caroline Willemen, project coordinator for Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, in Gaza, has told Al Jazeera the medical charity brought in just 15 aid trucks since the truce came into effect nearly four weeks ago.
A number were denied entry, which she called part of a “pattern” over the past two years, where “bureaucratic impediments” by Israeli authorities are used to stifle humanitarian efforts.
She said this goes against the ceasefire agreement that states 600 trucks a day should be allowed to enter the war-ravaged Palestinian enclave.
Willemen said MSF has witnessed “a genocide in Gaza” for the last two years, with civilians killed and the health system deliberately destroyed. “People have been denied access to water, access to food, access to medication,” she said.
Charity launches new kitchen in starving northern Gaza
World Central Kitchen (WCK) has restarted food services in besieged northern Gaza and prepared more than 3,000 meals for hospitals and hungry Palestinians on its first day at its newest facility.
“The new kitchen expands WCK’s capacity in the region with plans to scale up to 40,000 meals per day in the coming weeks,” it said in a statement.
Last year, seven World Central Kitchen staff were killed in central Gaza in a “targeted attack” by Israeli forces that drew global condemnation and forced the charity to suspend operations.
The charity’s network of kitchens across Gaza serves more than 600,000 meals daily. Since October 2023, WCK has distributed more than 150 million meals in the war-torn territory, it said.
