UNRWA Warns Israeli Blockade Escalates Hunger Crisis in Gaza

Gaza: The tight Israeli blockade of humanitarian supplies is pushing Gaza closer to an acute hunger crisis, Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA), said on Sunday. Lazzarini made the remarks in a social media post, in which he noted that the siege, which is preventing food, medicines, water, and fuel from entering the occupied Palestinian territory, has lasted longer than blockades imposed during the first phase of the war. According to Palestine News and Information Agency - WAFA, the UNRWA chief pointed out that people in Gaza depend on imports via Israel for their survival. "Every day that passes without the entry of aid means more children go to bed hungry, diseases spread and deprivation deepens." Gaza, he added, is inching closer to an acute hunger crisis. After a brief ceasefire, a bombing campaign and ground operation against Gaza has resumed. Since then, hundreds of civilians, including children, have been killed. Sam Rose, UNRWA Acting Director of Affairs in t he enclave, warned on Friday that, if the ceasefire is not restored, it will lead to "large-scale loss of life, damage to infrastructure and property, increased risk of infectious disease, and massive trauma for the one million children and for the two million civilians who live in Gaza." Describing the banning of aid as a "collective punishment" on Gaza's population, overwhelmingly children, women, and ordinary men, Lazzarini called for the siege to be lifted and for humanitarian aid and commercial supplies to be brought into Gaza uninterrupted and at scale.