So far, only five humanitarian aid trucks have had access to the Palestinian enclave
Fourteen thousand babies may die in the next 48 hours in Gaza due to the delay in the arrival of humanitarian aid, warned the United Nations Office leader to coordinate Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Tom Fletcher.
The number runs, according to the UN official in statements to BBC radio 4, an evaluation made by OCHA teams on the ground.
“We have strong teams on the ground. Of course many of the elements of these teams have been killed, but we still have a lot of people on the ground. They are in medical centers, in schools … to evaluate the needs,” he said.
“I want to save as many 14,000 babies as possible in the next 48 hours,” he added.
Noting that the amount of help Israel is allowing Gaza to “it’s unfortunate,” Tom Fletcher reiterated that the entry authorization of nine humanitarian aid trucks in the Gaza Strip, after 11 weeks of blocking, is “a drop of water in the ocean”.
He stressed, so far, only five humanitarian aid trucks have had access to the Palestinian enclave, which “is a totally inadequate help” for the needs of the population.
Although no humanitarian aid has entered the Palestinian territory since March 2, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Sunday that he was going to authorize the entry of a “basic amount of food for the population to avoid hunger development in the Gaza Strip.”
The Israeli authorities had already announced that they had let it pass trucks with babies foods, without specifying how many, but according to Fletcher, this help is technically in Gaza, but it has not reached civilians, as it remains “across the border.”
“The limited quantity [de alimentos] Now authorized to enter Gaza does not, of course, replace access without barriers to the needy civilians, ”insisted Tom Fletcher, noting that the United Nations have a plan to provide a large -scale aid in Palestinian territory.
Last week, the UN explained that it was charged with 171,000 tons of food waiting to be allowed to enter.
During the 42-day ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian Islamite group Hamas, at the beginning of the year, 4,000 aid trucks entered the territory every week, according to the UN.
Fletcher also appealed to Israel to open “at least two points of passage to Gaza” to “simplify and accelerate procedures and raise all quotas” in order to meet all needs in terms of “food, water, hygiene, shelter, health or fuel”.
Tom Fletcher said he waited for Israel to let 100 trucks in Gaza come in today.
“It will be difficult,” he admitted, ensuring that if there is permission, these trucks will be loaded with baby food.
The opening now given by the Government of Telavive was justified by Netanyahu with the fear that the hunger images of the Palestinians would cause Israel’s allies to remove military and diplomatic support from the country.
UN agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGO) who have been working in Gaza have been coming to mark food, drinking water, fuel and medicine in Palestinian territory for over 19 months.
“Two million people are hungry” in Gaza, while “tons of food are blocked on the border,” said the director of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Israel imposed a blockade on the Palestinian territory of 2.4 million inhabitants in March, after having a term to a ceasefire negotiated in January, during which he exchanged several Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners.
