World Food Programme appeals for sustained access to Gaza to provide food lifeline

ROME: As humanitarian supplies converged on Egypt’s border with Gaza, the United Nations World Food Programme renewed its call for sustained humanitarian access to Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of people fleeing violence desperately need food, water and medical supplies.

The WFP said it already has food for 244,000 people close to the border with Gaza. More food supplies are arriving in northeastern Egypt, where an assistance hub is being set up.

“We need to be allowed to bring this food into Gaza for immediate distribution. And not just once. We need sustained access.

“The situation over there is catastrophic and our stocks inside Gaza are running out. Every day that passes pushes more and more people closer to starvation,” said Corinne Fleischer, WFP regional director for Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe.

“The situation is dire. It is unlike anything we have seen before here,” said Samer Abdeljaber, WFP’s country director in Palestine.

“Our teams are working round the clock to distribute food and ensure the electronic voucher system is still functioning.

“Heart-wrenchingly, hundreds of people are queueing for hours every day to get bread rations at bakeries across Gaza, while food is there, ready for distribution, just across the border.”

Here is the latest information on WFP’s operations in Palestine since the start of the crisis:

• Monday, some 170,000 people received fresh bread and more than 15,000 people redeemed a cash voucher.
• WFP already has 310 metric tons of ready-to-eat food — enough to feed 244,000 people — at or on its way to the Egyptian border. It includes fortified biscuits, canned fish and date bars — all items that require no cooking facilities.
• More food supplies are arriving. A plane landed in Al Arish, in Egypt’s northeast, on Sunday carrying 5 tons of fortified biscuits. Another plane arrived Monday carrying an additional 15 tons, along with mobile storage units for logistics capacity.
• Despite immense challenges, WFP has provided food and cash assistance to some 522,000 Palestinians. WFP plans to provide a vital food lifeline to over 800,000 people in Gaza and the West Bank.
• WFP requires an immediate $74 million for the next three months to provide this emergency assistance.
• Food stocks in Gaza shops will last less than a week. Many shops are unable to restock from wholesalers because of damage to roads, infrastructure and insecurity.
• Only one flour mill is operating in Gaza and few bakeries are able to work so the bread supply is running short. People are lining up for hours to get bread.