No aid has been delivered to Gaza since March 2. Israel has said it would not allow the entry of goods and supplies into Gaza until Palestinian militant group Hamas releases all remaining hostages
United Nations aid chief Tom Fletcher has said an Israeli plan aid distribution in the Gaza Strip was a “cynical sideshow, a deliberate distraction, a fig leaf for further violence and displacement” of Palestinians in the enclave.
He told the UN Security Council that no food, medicine, water or tents have entered the war-torn Palestinian enclave for more than 10 weeks.
“We can save hundreds of thousands of survivors. We have rigorous mechanisms to ensure our aid gets to civilians and not to Hamas, but Israel denies us access, placing the objective of depopulating Gaza before the lives of civilians,” said Fletcher.
No aid has been delivered to Gaza since March 2. Israel has said it would not allow the entry of goods and supplies into Gaza until Palestinian militant group Hamas releases all remaining hostages.
At the end of last month the UN World Food Programme said it had run out of food stocks in Gaza, and US President Donald Trump said that he pushed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to allow the delivery of food and medicine.
Fletcher said the UN has met more than a dozen times with Israeli authorities to discuss their proposed aid distribution model “to find a way to make it possible,” stressing the minimum conditions needed for UN involvement. Those included the ability to deliver aid to all those in need wherever they are.
“The Israeli-designed distribution modality is not the answer,” he told the 15-member council.
“It forces further displacement. It exposes thousands of people to harm … It restricts aid to only one part of Gaza while leaving other dire needs unmet. It makes aid conditional on political and military aims. It makes starvation a bargaining chip,” Fletcher said.
Meanwhile, a a World Health Organization official has said that malnutrition rates are rising in Gaza, emergency treatments to counter it are running out and hunger could have a lasting impact on “an entire generation.”
WHO representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territory Rik Peeperkorn said he had seen children who looked years younger than their age and visited a north Gaza hospital where over 20 percent of children screened suffered from acute malnutrition.
“What we see is an increasing trend in generalized acute malnutrition,” Peeperkorn told a press briefing by video link from Deir Al-Balah. “I’ve seen a child that’s five years old, and you would say it was two-and-a-half.”
“Without enough nutritious food, clean water and access to health care, an entire generation will be permanently affected,” he said, warning of stunting and impaired cognitive development.
This comes in the backdrop of UK and four European allies issuing a joint appeal to Israel to immediately lift its blockade on humanitarian aid to Gaza, warning that continued restrictions are placing millions of Palestinian civilians at risk of starvation and undermining prospects for peace
In a joint statement delivered at the United Nations, Britain, France, Denmark, Greece and Slovenia said the Israeli government’s ongoing obstruction of aid deliveries, now entering its third month, was “unacceptable” and risked compounding what UN agencies have described as a looming famine. “Blocking aid as a ‘pressure lever’ is unacceptable,” the five nations said.
“Palestinian civilians, including children, face starvation… Without an urgent lifting of the aid block, more Palestinians are at risk of dying. Deaths that could easily be avoided.”
The group, which called the emergency Security Council meeting on Gaza, also warned that any Israeli move to annex parts of the territory would breach international law and deepen instability in the region.
“Any attempt by Israel to annex land in Gaza would be unacceptable and violate international law,” the statement read. “Palestinian territory must not be reduced nor subjected to any demographic change.”
The intervention follows the Israeli Security Cabinet’s recent approval of plans to expand its military operations in Gaza, a move the European countries said would only add to Palestinian suffering while doing little to secure the return of hostages still held by Hamas.
“We strongly oppose both these actions,” the statement said, referring to the blockade and the expansion of military activity. “They do nothing to serve the long-term interests of peace and security in the region — nor to secure the safe return of the hostages.”
The five governments welcomed the recent release of Edan Alexander, an Israeli-American hostage held by Hamas since October 7, but reiterated demands for the immediate and unconditional release of all remaining captives.
“Their suffering must end,” they said. “Hamas must have no future role in Gaza or be in a position to threaten Israel.”
The joint statement also expressed concern over proposals to create a new aid delivery mechanism in Gaza that, according to the UN, would fail to meet established humanitarian principles.
“Humanitarian aid must never be used as a political tool or military tactic,” the countries warned. “Any model for distributing humanitarian aid must be independent, impartial and neutral, and in line with international law.”
