The United Nations World Food Programme on Tuesday said the situation in the Gaza Strip was worsening by the minute with only four or five days of food stocks left in the shops.
The statement comes amid a deepening humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave of 2.3 million people, where Israel prepares to escalate an offensive after a surprise attack by Hamas on Oct 7.
Gaza authorities say more than 2,800 people have been killed in Israeli bombing, around a quarter of them children, and nearly 11,000 wounded are in hospitals desperately short of supplies.
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“Inside the shops, the stocks are getting close to less than a few days, maybe four or five days of food stocks left,” WFP’s Middle East spokeswoman Abeer Etefa, told reporters in Geneva via video link from Cairo.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation has stressed that it needs urgent access to Gaza to deliver aid and medical supplies.
Speaking to media in a briefing, Dr Richard Brennan, regional emergency director of the WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean regional office, said the agency was meeting with “decision-makers” today to open access to Gaza as soon as possible.
“We have aid south of Rafa and waiting for the go ahead to get entry to Gaza,” he said, referring to the Rafa crossing, which was a vital artery before the fighting and is now a key route for desperately needed supplies into Gaza.
