WFP warns Israeli war to intensify ‘catastrophic hunger crisis’ in Gaza as aid delivery 'impossible'

The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) has warned that Israel’s resumed war on the Gaza Strip will intensify the “catastrophic hunger crisis” for more than two million Palestinian civilians in the besieged territory.

The WFP said in a statement late on Tuesday that the international organization managed to scale up its distribution network and reach around 250,500 people in Gaza during the seven-day truce last week but the resumption of the Israeli war had made food assistance to Palestinians in the strip “almost impossible.”

“The renewed fighting makes the distribution of aid almost impossible and endangers the lives of humanitarian workers,” the statement said. “Above all, it is a disaster for the civilian population of Gaza, more than 2 million people, whose only lifeline is food assistance.”

It stressed that humanitarian workers require “safe, unimpeded and sustained access” to the Gaza Strip in order to deliver life-saving aid, adding, “Only a lasting peace can end the suffering and avert the looming humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.”

The international organization added, “WFP calls for a humanitarian ceasefire and urges all leaders to work with the utmost urgency to find political solutions that can end the suffering of families on all sides of this harrowing conflict.”

The Israeli regime has pressed ahead with its deadly attacks across the besieged Gaza Strip, vowing to eradicate Hamas after the Palestinian resistance movement carried out Operation Al-Aqsa Storm on October 7 into the occupied territories in retaliation for Israel’s intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

Since the start of its genocide in Gaza, the Tel Aviv regime has claimed the lives of more than 16,000 Palestinians, including women and children, and razed to the ground vast swathes of residential areas in the coastal silver.

Israel has also imposed a “complete siege” on Gazans, cutting off their fuel, electricity, food and water.

‘Perfect storm’ for disease outbreak

Meanwhile, a World Health Organization (WHO) official in the Gaza Strip said on Tuesday the situation was worsening by the hour as Israeli bombing had intensified in the southern cities of Khan Younis and Rafah.

Richard Peeperkorn, the WHO’s representative in Gaza, told reporters via video link that the organization was deeply concerned about the vulnerability of the health system in the densely-populated besieged territory as more people were forced to move further south to escape the bombing.

James Elder, spokesperson for UNICEF, said the areas designed as safe by Israel in Gaza were nowhere near meeting basic requirements, warning that the absence of sanitation and shelter has created a “perfect storm” for disease outbreak in the besieged territory.

Elder added that the only way to make Gaza safe was to enforce a ceasefire.

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