The UN food agency chief said Gaza lacks sufficient food,
calling the crisis “very evident” after talks with Israeli PM Netanyahu on
urgent aid needs.
According to the world's foremost expert on food crises, famine struck the largest city in the Gaza Strip last week and is expected to spread throughout the region in the absence of a truce and an end to limitations on humanitarian aid.
Starvation was occurring in Gaza, according to Cindy McCain, executive director of the World Food Program, who spoke to The Associated Press.
“I personally met mothers and children who were starving in Gaza,”
she said.
“It is real and it is happening now,”
"Clearly very concerned that people aren't getting enough food,"
she added of Netanyahu. He has previously disputed that famine exists in Gaza and said that the reports of malnutrition are the result of a propaganda effort by Hamas.
“We agreed that we must immediately redouble our efforts to get more humanitarian aid in. Access and security for our convoys is critical,”
McCain said.
International pressure on Israel, which has been battling Hamas since the militant group's devastating strike on October 7, 2023, has risen as a result of the famine declaration. There have been no visible indications of recent ceasefire efforts, and Israel now claims it intends to take control of Gaza City and other Hamas strongholds.
Israel on Wednesday demanded a formal retraction of the designation, which was made by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, the authority on food emergencies.
More than 300 humanitarian supply trucks enter Gaza daily, the majority of which are carrying food, according to COGAT, the Israeli military organization responsible for delivering help to the region, which was announced Thursday.
“I got to meet a family who had come from the North, there were 11 of them, and they’d come from the North and they literally had not had enough food at all and they still don’t have enough food,”
she said.
McCain said her program is getting more food into Gaza, but said a surge in food supplies was needed.
Israeli warplanes also struck the capital of Yemen, Sanaa, on Thursday in retaliation for attacks by the Houthi rebels, an Arab group supported by Iran, who have been attacking ships in the Red Sea and launching missiles and drones toward Israel for more than 22 months. According to the Houthis, the attacks are a show of support for Palestinians.
The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza reports that since the start of the war, around 63,000 people have died in Gaza. According to the agency, Israeli attacks over the previous day have killed 71 individuals and injured numerous more.
The government claims that over half of the deceased were women and children, but it does not distinguish between militants and civilians.
The ministry employs medical experts and is a part of the Hamas-run government. It is regarded as the most trustworthy source of information on combat casualties by the UN and independent experts. Israel denies its numbers but hasn't offered any of its own.
In the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that set off the war, Hamas-led militants killed almost 1,200 people, primarily civilians, and kidnapped 251 more. In ceasefires or other agreements, the majority of the hostages have been freed. Israel thinks that 20 of the 50 people still in Gaza are alive.
According to the U.N. head, Israel has a duty to protect civilians, provide much better humanitarian access, and attend to their basic requirements as the occupying force.
How many daily aid trucks did WFP say Gaza needs versus current levels?
Since humanitarian pauses were introduced, WFP is moving
between 74 to 100 trucks per day but it remains a small portion of what is
needed. During a previous ceasefire in 2025 with 600-700 trucks per day entering
Gaza illustrate how much lower the throughput is now.
WFP advocates for considerably faster approvals and clearances at border crossings and inside Gaza to safely and efficiently move trucks. There are several challenges limiting throughput including few crossing points, slow approvals, security risks along the convoy route and a lack of vetted drivers.
WFP emphasized that without maintaining, at a minimum, the low target of 100 trucks per day, starvation and malnutrition levels will continue to worsen for Gaza's over 2 million inhabitants.