Today, food security experts released a heart-wrenching assessment that Famine is imminent in northern Gaza between now and May. There is also a serious risk of Famine for the rest of Gaza. With just two previous Famine declarations in the twenty-first century, this is a horrific milestone.
The catastrophic levels of hunger and malnutrition described in the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report should be unimaginable in the current era, but for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza, this is the reality.
Samantha Power continued: “We call on Israel to take immediate action to put an end to this mass – and preventable – suffering.”
We continue to call on Israel to open more land routes into Gaza and reduce bottlenecks and inspection delays to get land crossings operating at full capacity.
Samantha Power also praised the efforts of humanitarian agencies and international donors, and urged “increased safety and access for their life-saving activities.”
She explained what U.S. AID is doing:
USAID continues to prioritize emergency food assistance through ongoing support to the World Food Program (WFP), which was able to reach 1.45 million people with partial food assistance in February – but much, much more is needed.
and what must be done:
There must be a continued and sustained international effort to ensure the right type of assistance is getting to the most vulnerable. Israel must do more to protect civilians and allow humanitarians to safely and consistently deliver assistance.
As for the U.S., Samantha Power said that “since the beginning of this conflict, the U.S. has been leading efforts to get life-saving humanitarian aid into Gaza to alleviate the suffering of innocent Palestinians.” She added:
High-level U.S. diplomacy led to the opening of both Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings and the recent 96 Gate, and we have established air delivery and maritime operations in order to increase options for delivering assistance.
www.usaid.gov/...
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UPDATE:
On March 22, according to Reuters, Israel's military said it has opened a new entry point for aid to enter Gaza and is allowing “unlimited supplies into the enclave, after a U.N.-backed report said there was an imminent risk of famine in the north and that it would spread.”
"As much as we know, by our analysis, there is no starvation in Gaza. There is a sufficient amount of food entering Gaza every day," Colonel Moshe Tetro, head of Israel's Coordination and Liasion Administration for Gaza, told reporters at Gate 96, a new entry point for delivering supplies to the northern area.
A convoy of seven trucks entered through Gate 96 on Thursday, (March 21) which he said was the third time the route was used. "We are doing everything that we can to enlarge the capacity of humanitarian aid going into Gaza," Tetro said, blaming "bottlenecks" on international aid groups which he said lacked capacity to distribute supplies inside Gaza, where fighting has left a trail of destruction.
The Reuters article says aid convoys driven by Palestinian drivers are cleared by the Israeli military at the southern cross point of Kerem Shalom. They then drive up on the Israeli side of the Gaza security fence to Gate 96 where they enter Gaza and turn north.
www.reuters.com/...