UN: Food Security Improved in Gaza but Remains Fragile

SadaNews - The United Nations' "World Food Programme" announced on Thursday that food security and child nutrition have improved across the Gaza Strip, but remain fragile as only one crossing for aid remains open.

The agency, based in Rome, indicated that "there has been an improvement in food security and child nutrition throughout the Gaza Strip," but it "warned that this progress, achieved thanks to the expanded access to humanitarian assistance related to food, nutrition, agriculture, and health, remains fragile."

It added that there has been a "significant" increase in food assistance since the ceasefire agreement was reached in October 2025.

Food parcels were delivered to about 1.5 million people in May, while approximately 700,000 people received cash assistance, and 60 percent of children under five received nutritional support.

Tom Fletcher, the UN aid official, called last month for the opening of all crossings leading to the Gaza Strip and an immediate lifting of Israeli restrictions on the entry of goods, such as medical supplies and fuel.

The "World Food Programme" reported preliminary indicators in the sector that suggest the possibility of "restoring local food production, provided that farmers and livestock breeders can access agricultural land, production inputs, productive assets, veterinary support, and other essential services such as energy needed for irrigation."

The agency also noted the livestock sector, where sheep numbers have increased by 33 percent in areas where support continued.

However, it warned that "this has limits unless the restrictions on what enters the sector are lifted."

The two-year war between the Israeli army and the "Hamas" movement caused significant damage to the agricultural sector in Gaza.

The "World Food Programme" indicated that more than 70 percent of agricultural land in Gaza is inaccessible, and only 3 percent is currently suitable for exploitation.