Capitals (Union)
The United Nations World Food Program said yesterday that 2.2 million people, nearly the entire population of the Gaza Strip, need urgent food aid.
The United Nations program added in a statement that “hundreds of thousands of displaced people in Gaza are crowded into overcrowded shelters and hospitals, with food and water running out,” as a result of the ongoing war in the Strip for 48 days.
The statement stressed that about 2.2 million people, nearly the entire population of Gaza, now need urgent food assistance. He pointed out that the sharp escalation of the conflict in Gaza has placed the entire population in desperate and catastrophic conditions.
He continued: “We need a cessation of hostilities and safe access to food and fuel supplies so that we can carry out our operations inside Gaza as quickly as possible.”
The statement added, “Food systems are collapsing in Gaza, while the last bakery we worked with was closed due to running out of fuel or gas.”
The World Food Program called for full compliance with all provisions of the humanitarian truce to provide relief to all residents whose lives are threatened by hunger.
He said, “The agreement reached on a humanitarian truce to the fighting in Gaza represents an important and welcome first step that must be adhered to in full to allow food and other life-saving supplies to reach those most in need.”
He added, “The program is rapidly mobilizing to increase its assistance inside Gaza as soon as safe arrival is ensured, as our fleet of trucks is waiting at the Rafah crossing loaded with food intended for families in shelters and homes throughout the Strip, as well as flour for bakeries in order to resume their work.”
In a related context, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said that it represents the only international entity that is still cohesive and performing its work in providing humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip.
The agency indicated that the number of its employees who have died so far has reached 108 individuals, noting that this number is the largest in the history of human losses suffered by United Nations employees.
UNRWA spokesman Adnan Abu Hasna said that the number of displaced persons that the agency accommodates in its facilities exceeds its capacity by between 4 and 9 times.
Abu Hasna pointed out that the number of displaced people in the Gaza Strip reaches one million, who moved from the north of the strip to the south and live in 156 shelter centers.
Regarding aid, the agency spokesman indicated that the number of all trucks that have entered the Strip since the start of the war is not enough for the residents of Gaza for more than 3 days, indicating that aid must be allowed to enter again to reach the levels it was before the war, which was 500 trucks per day.
He continued: “In the current situation, we need an average of 800 trucks per day, which will last for two or three months, so that the basic needs of the people of Gaza can be provided.”
In another context, the King Salman Center for Relief and Humanitarian Aid at the headquarters of the Saudi Embassy in Cairo yesterday signed 4 cooperation agreements with various international organizations.
Riyadh concluded joint agreements with UNRWA, the World Health Organization, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the World Food Programme, to provide relief to the Palestinian people in Gaza, with a total value of 150 million Saudi riyals.
The General Supervisor of the King Salman Relief Center, Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Rabiah, said during the signing ceremony that he visited the city of Al-Arish and checked the progress and mechanism of entry of humanitarian aid provided by the Kingdom to relieve the Palestinian people in Gaza.
He explained that the total relief aircraft flown by the center amounted to 15 aircraft, while the load of the first ship reached 1,050 tons.
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