"UNRWA": Famine in Gaza Can Be Stopped by Flooding It with Aid

SadaNews - The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) stated today, Saturday, that famine in the Gaza Strip can be stopped if massive amounts of humanitarian aid are allowed to enter, noting that its warehouses in Jordan and Egypt are filled with supplies.

The agency added that it has enough food and relief materials to fill around six thousand trucks ready to cross into the enclave, emphasizing that Israel must allow aid to enter the area.

An international classification of food insecurity, issued by the United Nations, officially declared famine in the Gaza governorate yesterday, Friday, and predicted that it would spread to the Deir al-Balah and Khan Yunis governorates by the end of September.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification stated that more than half a million people in the Gaza Strip are facing catastrophic conditions, which is the fifth phase of the classification, characterized by extreme hunger, death, deprivation, and critically high levels of acute malnutrition, according to the UN News Center.

For his part, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, said yesterday at a press conference that the declaration of famine in Gaza is a "moment of collective shame."

He stated: "This is a famine that we could have prevented if we had been allowed... It is a famine that should motivate the world to take immediate action. The world should be ashamed in order to do better."

In the press conference in Geneva, Fletcher said: "Please read the full report of the Integrated Food Security Classification Committee. Read it with sadness and anger. Not just as words and numbers, but as names and souls. Ensure that this is an undeniable testimony."

The UN humanitarian official said: "My request, my plea, my demand to Prime Minister (Israeli Benjamin) Netanyahu and anyone who can reach him: Enough. Ceasefire. Open the northern and southern crossings. All of them. Let us deliver food and other supplies, unobstructed and on the massive scale required."