As humanitarian supplies converged on Egypt’s border with Gaza, the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) today renewed its call for sustained humanitarian access to Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of people fleeing violence desperately need food, water and medical supplies. WFP 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 pushed 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 the State of 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.’ 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 as more food supplies are arriving. WFP said it 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, it said. 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.

Source: Palestine news & Information Agency – WAFA