FAMINE HAS STARTED IN GAZA, UN RELIEF BOSS WARNS

Tue 16 January 2024:

The “great majority” of the 400,000 Palestinians characterised by the UN as being at risk of starving “are actually in famine, not just at risk of famine”, a top United Nations official has said.

“[The war] has brought famine with such incredible speed to the front of the lines,” UN under secretary general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator Martin Griffiths told CNN.

Griffiths said trying to provide aid to those living in the north of Gaza remains a challenge.

“If you cannot rely on deconfliction of access routes of people in need, if you cannot rely on hospitals not being attacked… if you cannot rely on people having to move from one place of insecurity to another place of insecurity, those are the issues that make humanitarian aid deliveries,” he said.

“It’s not a matter of the number of trucks that can get in.”

Last week, Griffith’s office said Israel had denied critical supplies from entering northern Gaza.

Israel has accused the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency of not doing enough and “stalling” the progress.

Israel denying deliveries of medicines, water-pump fuel to north Gaza: UN

The UN’s humanitarian agency (OCHA) has said that Israeli authorities are still denying access to northern Gaza for deliveries of medicines and fuel to run water and waste pumps.

“Lack of fuel for water, sanitation and hygiene increases risks of health and environmental hazards,” OCHA said in its daily update, while “lack of medicine debilitated the functionality of the six partially functioning hospitals”.

Only one of 19 planned missions delivering fuel and supplies for water facilities has been allowed north of Wadi Gaza since the beginning of January, OCHA said.

The following eighteen missions were denied access:

five planned missions to the Central Drug Store
four planned missions to the Jabalia Health Centre
eight planned missions to four critical reservoirs and water and waste pumps

Gaza death toll rises to 24,285

The number of Palestinians killed since the start of Israel’s attacks on October 7 has risen to 24,285, Gaza’s health ministry says.

At least 61,154 others have been wounded.

According to the ministry, Israeli forces committed “15 massacres against families” in the Gaza Strip, killing 158 people and injuring 320 others during the past 24 hours.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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