Gaza’s children and young people are becoming increasingly desperate about food supplies, according to the UN’s children’s relief organization, UNICEF.
UNICEF’s spokesman, James Elder, said in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday that the children were dreaming of a slice of cucumber or begging for a tomato.
Young people who spoke to the organisation said they hoped to die in the next attack so that the nightmare of their lives would end, he said.
The hospitals were full of completely emaciated children, and the few functioning incubators were full of premature babies whose lives were hanging by a thread, he added.
The hunger crisis in the Gaza Strip is “man-made,” Elder said.
Hundreds of trucks with food were waiting at the borders, but they were not allowed to enter. “Lifesaving aid is being obstructed; dignity is being denied,” he said.
Elder appealed to the Israeli authorities to open border crossings in the north. This could end the hunger crisis within a few days.
The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) says Israel is currently refusing entry authorization for all its convoys.
A representative of the Israeli military authority that is coordinating the emergency aid said last week in Geneva that there were no restrictions on aid convoys.
The problem is rather in the Gaza Strip, because the actors there are apparently not in a position to bring material to the people, according to the authority
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in Geneva that it was Israel’s duty as a party to the conflict to ensure that food for the civilian population could be distributed without restriction.(dpa/NAN)
