Gaza Famine Sparked By Israeli Bid To Replace UN Aid System, UNRWA Warns

(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, has asserted that the famine now devastating Gaza is the result of deliberate Israeli efforts to replace the UN aid system with another politically motivated mechanism.
Posting on the X platform, Lazzarini stressed that the situation has gone downhill further by preventing UNRWA from bringing in any assistance to Gaza for five months.
Sidelining and weakening UNRWA has nothing to do with claims of aid diversion to armed groups. It is a deliberate measure to collectively pressure and punish Palestinians for living in Gaza, he added.
In a statement on Friday, UNRWA emphasised that it had 6,000 trucks laden with aid pallets stuck outside Gaza, waiting for approval to enter. It stressed the importance of getting the aid via land instead of airdropping.
Meanwhile, the UN Children's Fund (Unicef) has warned that children in the Gaza Strip are dying at an unprecedented rate amid famine and worsening conditions resulting from the ongoing Israeli war on the enclave since Octr 7, 2023.
Unicef Deputy Executive Director Ted Chaiban stated during a media briefing on his recent trip to the Middle East, that the images are seen in the news, but what's happening on the ground is much. The signs of deep suffering and hunger are evident on the faces of families and children.
He emphasised that what is happening in Gaza is inhumane, stressing that what children of all categories need is a sustainable ceasefire and a political path forward.
The UN official added that more than 320,000 young children are today at risk of severe malnutrition, noting that over 18,000 children have been killed in Gaza since the beginning of the war.
He continued that Gaza now faces an imminent threat of famine. One in every three people in Gaza goes days without food. The malnutrition index has surpassed the famine threshold, with the global acute malnutrition rate now exceeding 16.5 %.
The Unicef Deputy Executive Director reiterated the urgent need to allow the entry of at least 500 trucks per day into the Strip through all routes, including both humanitarian and commercial aid.
The Palestinian government has issued an urgent appeal to the international community and its humanitarian and UN institutions to exert increased pressure on the Israeli occupation to open the Gaza Strip crossings and allow the entry of aid trucks, which are accumulating by the thousands around the enclave.
In a statement Saturday, the government indicated that food insecurity levels have reached 100%, according to reports from specialised UN institutions.
It called for an end to the use of hunger as a weapon to kill the people of the Strip, who are being subjected to a genocidal war.
The government stressed the need to secure more resources to continue relief operations on a broader scale, while commending the ongoing efforts of UN and international humanitarian organisations in this regard.

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