NEW YORK: United Nations officials on Thursday warned that children in Gaza are starving despite the daily “tactical pauses” announced by Israeli forces, stressing that the limited aid reaching the besieged Palestinian territory is far from sufficient to meet urgent humanitarian needs.
Speaking at the regular news briefing in New York, UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Aziz Haq said that even four days into the announced pauses, “we are still seeing casualties among those seeking aid and more deaths due to hunger and malnutrition.”
The UN spokesperson added that parents are “struggling to save their starving children” and warned that the current conditions for aid delivery are “far from sufficient”.
Access through the Kerem Shalom (Karem Abu Salem) crossing involves several layers of approval from Israeli authorities, including guarantees of safe passage, a halt to bombardment, and the physical unlocking of the gates.
Meanwhile, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) stated that, although it is making use of every available opportunity to deliver aid during the unilateral pauses, the level of humanitarian need far exceeds the amount of assistance currently reaching Gaza.
Ceasefire needed
“A permanent ceasefire is needed more than ever,” Frhan Haq said, emphasising that “unilateral tactical pauses alone do not allow for the continuous flow of supplies required to meet immense needs levels in Gaza.”
“Yesterday, three facilitated missions allowed our staff to collect cargo containing food from the Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings and allowed for fuel to be transferred within Gaza,” Farhan Haq said.
“However, the others faced impediments, particularly delays in receiving the green light to move by the Israeli authorities, and one had to be cancelled.”
UNICEF’s communication manager, Ricardo Pires, told UN News, “Children are being injured and killed while trying to get food and aid while suffering from malnutrition and hunger.”
Pires said that two out of the three criteria for a famine declaration have been met, according to the latest alert by food security experts.
“We’re at the brink of a man-made drought,” Pires said, with only 40 per cent of water production functioning and children turning to contaminated sources, risking deadly disease.
“Children are dehydrated. They are reverting to contaminated water, which will make them sick, with deadly diseases or diarrhoea outbreaks and in some cases, even meningitis,” he added.
“It is a complete perfect storm of suffering for children.”
