On Friday, the UN’s food agency declared it has exhausted all food supplies in Gaza following eight weeks of Israel’s humanitarian aid blockade, pushing the entire region to the verge of — or deep into — famine.
The World Food Programme delivered its final food supplies to kitchens that provide food on Friday. These kitchens have been “the sole steady source of hot meals” for Palestinians in recent weeks during the resumed Israeli blockade, the agency added, and have provided nearly half of the Palestinian population — 1 million people — with meals.
The running out of WFP stocks will result in further destruction to Palestinians, with few or no alternatives remaining to access food and other essentials, even for those still with cash remaining to purchase retail items. All bakeries across the region shut down earlier this month after flour and fuel reserves ran out of stock in Gaza. WFP reported that it handed out its final food parcels, which represent two weeks’ worth of food, to families last month.
The agency stated that if the siege of Israel continues, WFP could have to discontinue its aid in Gaza entirely. The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) also issued a warning on Thursday that its food supplies and other relief items are almost gone.
The termination of Gaza food aid would have disastrous effects. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has cautioned this week that Israel’s human disaster has has reached unparalleled heights, leaving the entire region of Gaza trapped, starving, and desperate due to the blockade aid.
Gaza’s administration Media Office has stated that famine is a “reality” in Gaza, with a minimum of 52 casualties— 50 children — documented due to deficiency of nutrition so far. The shortage of food is endangering the lives of a million kids living in the Strip, the administration stated.
UN officials report that thousands of trucks carrying hundreds of thousands of tons of aid are stationed outside the border crossing, awaiting Israel’s permission to enter the Strip. Recently, many UN officials have suggested that Israel is using humanitarian aid as a tool of warfare.
This is the Gaza Strip’s longest-ever closure, aggravating already vulnerable businesses and food systems,” WFP added. “Food prices have increased as much as 1,400 percent since the truce period, and key food items are scarce, posing serious nutrition problems to vulnerable groups, including children aged five and under, pregnant and lactating women, and the aged.
But Israel is not easing up at all on the blockade of aid, with Israeli leaders pledging control of significant portions of Gaza while still destroying ceasefire negotiations that would entail the resumption of humanitarian aid shipments.
The apparent ultimate goal seems to be to starve the remaining 2 million residents of Gaza. This objective appears to have support from U.S. leaders, as Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir proudly stated after meeting with leading Republicans during his visit to Mar-a-Lago this week.
