The United Nations has warned that up to 14,000 infants in Gaza could die within the next 48 hours unless immediate humanitarian assistance is delivered to them.
U.N. humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher stressed the critical nature of the situation. He said that while thousands of aid trucks carrying baby formula and essential nutrition supplies are prepared to enter Gaza, they remain stuck at the border due to Israeli restrictions.
“We run the risk of looting. We run the risk of being hit as part of the Israeli military offensive. We run all sorts of risk trying to get that baby food through to those mothers who cannot feed their children right now because they’re malnourished,” he told the BBC in an interview.
The humanitarian crisis in Gaza has worsened dramatically since mid-March, when Israel resumed the offensive despite a ceasefire and imposed a total ban on the entry of food, medicine, and fuel into the territory.
One in five Palestinians in Gaza now faces starvation, and nearly 71,000 children under five are at risk of acute malnutrition, U.N. agencies have said.
On Monday night, Israel permitted a small convoy of five aid trucks to pass through the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing in southern Gaza. It was the first delivery of baby food and critical items in nearly three months.
However, Fletcher cautioned that the limited aid allowed in is “a drop in the ocean” and said it has yet to reach the most affected communities, IRNA writes.
