World Food Programme says Gaza needs to be ‘flooded with aid’ to avert a larger catastrophe

The spokesperson for the United Nations World Food Programme said the volume of aid currently entering the Gaza Strip does not meet minimum needs, stressing that “the Strip needs to be flooded with food immediately to avoid a wider famine.”

She said in a press statement that the humanitarian situation in Gaza remains at extremely critical levels, warning that “reversing the current level of famine will not be achieved by food alone, but also requires urgent and intensive medical interventions to treat acute malnutrition, especially among children, pregnant women and the elderly.”

The United Nations estimates that more than half of Gaza’s population is suffering from severe food insecurity, amid infrastructure destruction, disrupted supply chains and continued restrictions on the entry of aid, particularly via the Rafah crossing, which has remained closed to aid for several days.

The spokesperson called for relief convoys to be allowed to enter without restrictions and for humanitarian organizations to be permitted to operate freely inside the Strip, stressing that “each day of delay exacerbates the suffering of hundreds of thousands and increases the likelihood of vulnerable people dying from hunger or lack of medical care.”