New York (UNA/WAFA) – Humanitarian aid organizations said that aid reaching the Gaza Strip is extremely limited as hunger persists, winter approaches, and old tents begin to deteriorate, nearly four weeks after a ceasefire following the devastating two-year Israeli war.
The World Food Programme said in a statement that only half of the required food supplies are reaching the sector, while a group of Palestinian organizations said that the total amount of aid is between a quarter and a third of the expected amount.
The United Nations, which earlier in the war used to publish daily figures on aid trucks crossing into Gaza, no longer routinely provides these figures.
The ceasefire and increased aid flow since mid-October have led to some improvement, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
The office said that 10% of children being screened in Gaza are still suffering from acute malnutrition, down from 14% in September, with more than 1,000 children suffering from the most severe forms of malnutrition.
The office added that half of the families in Gaza reported increased access to food, particularly in the south, with the entry of more aid and commercial supplies following the ceasefire. Families are now receiving an average of two meals a day, compared to one meal during July.
He added that there is still a sharp gap between the South and the North, where conditions are still much worse.
With winter approaching, Gaza residents need shelter. Tents have deteriorated, and buildings that survived the war are often exposed, unstable, or dangerous.
Amjad Al-Shawa, director of the Palestinian NGO Network, which is in contact with the United Nations, said, “We are approaching the winter month very soon, which means rainwater and floods are expected, and there is a possibility of many diseases spreading due to the presence of hundreds of tons of waste near population centers.”
He added that only 25 to 30% of the expected amount of aid to Gaza has entered so far.
It is estimated that 1.5 million people need shelter in Gaza.
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