UNRWA: Food insecurity in northern Gaza has reached an "extremely critical state"

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Photo: Yasser Qudih/Xinhua

GAZA, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) warned Wednesday that food shortages in the northern Gaza Strip have reached an "extremely critical state" due to restrictions imposed on the delivery of humanitarian aid.

The agency said in a press statement that 51 per cent of missions planned this year by UNRWA and other humanitarian agencies to deliver aid and conduct assessments in northern Gaza were denied access by Israeli authorities.

The number of trucks entering Gaza is well below the target of 500 trucks per day, with sending supplies through the Kerem Shalom and Rafah crossings causing major difficulties, the agency said.

Palestinians wait for food aid deliveries in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, February 14, 2024. The World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Wednesday of the "unfathomable disaster" that could be caused by a possible extension of the Israeli ground assault in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah. (Photo: Yasser Qudih/Xinhua)

UNRWA added that some 400,000 people in the northern Gaza Strip are at risk of starvation and called on international institutions to increase their assistance, particularly to areas in the northern part of the enclave.

In addition, the media office of the Hamas-led government in Gaza on Tuesday called on the World Food Programme (WFP) to reverse its decision to suspend food aid deliveries to the northern Gaza Strip.

The office said in a press statement that it considers the decision to "condemn 75 percent of a million people to death and further exponentially worsen the humanitarian situation."

WFP said in a statement on social network X on Tuesday that it was "suspending the delivery of vital food aid to northern Gaza until safe conditions are created for our staff and the people we are trying to reach."

The organisation said the decision "was not taken lightly", adding that "safety and security must be ensured for the delivery of critical food aid - and for the people who receive it".

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