OCHA: Gaza, the hungriest place, receives only "drip-feeding"

GENEVA, May 30 (KUNA) -- The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned on Friday that the humanitarian aid currently entering Gaza is severely insufficient describing the situation as "drip-feeding an area on the verge of catastrophic hunger." "It is not a flood of aid .. it is a trickle," said OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke during a press briefing in Geneva.
"Gaza is the hungriest place on Earth right now," he added stressing that the aid operation is one of the most obstructed not just today but in history of Global Humanitarian Response anywhere.
Laerke laid the blame squarely on the occupying power Israel for imposing what he called a "tight operational straitjacket" on the UNآ’s humanitarian efforts. "The blockade and the strict control over the aid operation are imposed by one party to the conflict the occupying power Israel," he said criticizing the alternative mechanisms proposed by Israeli occupation authorities as lacking impartiality independence and effectiveness.
According to Laerke, although about 900 UN aid trucks were approved for entry into Gaza since the reopening of (Kerem Shalom) crossing 10 days ago only around 600 were offloaded. Even fewer made it to distribution points due to logistical and security challenges.
"The routes assigned by Israeli forces are often congested unsafe or simply non-existent," he said also noting delays in securing necessary permits some of which are later revoked without explanation.
He also emphasized the complexity of the operation: "Even when aid is offloaded on the Gaza side further permissions are required to transfer it internally within a war zone through extremely insecure routes." He warned that civilians are at serious risk when they attempt to retrieve aid saying "They become targets the moment they leave the distribution point." Laerke confirmed that most of the aid reaching Gaza is not ready-to-eat food but rather flour which requires cooking an additional challenge in the current conditions. "This modality increases chaos and puts civilians at risk. People need food now not tomorrow." He defended the UNآ’s record on aid oversight saying "We have strict monitoring in place. Thereآ’s no evidence of major aid diversion under our system. Claims otherwise have not been backed by new evidence and cannot justify halting life-saving operations." Highlighting the desperation Laerke noted that some UN trucks were swarmed by starving civilians. "This is a survival reaction. The aid was paid for by the worldآ’s donors for these very people. You cannot blame someone for taking what was always meant for them." OCHA currently has tens of thousands of pallets of life-saving food and supplies cleared packed and ready to enter Gaza but access remains blocked.
Laerke urged the reopening of all crossings including from Jordan and Egypt and for aid to be delivered "directly to families where they are" noting that "the criteria for receiving aid must be need not the ability to walk 20 kilometers." He also revealed that 81 pct of Gaza is now either under Israeli occupation`s evacuation orders or militarized zones. "Nearly 635.000 people have been newly displaced since the end of the March ceasefire 200.000 in the last two weeks alone," he said. "There is no one in Gaza who hasnآ’t been displaced at least once." "This is not just a humanitarian crisis," Laerke stressed, "it is a man-made disaster unfolding in full view of the world." (end) kmk.rk