The catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and growing hunger among civilians amid Israel’s ongoing military offensive is to blame for dozens of deaths of Palestinians during the arrival of an aid convoy on Thursday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.
“What is important is that people are so desperate for food, for fresh water, for any supplies that they risk their lives in getting any food, any supplies to support their children, to support themselves,” WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier said in Geneva on Friday. “This is the real drama, this is the real catstrophe here. Food is so scarce that we see these situations coming up.”
Lindmeier pointed out that, according to the authorities in the Gaza Strip, 10 children have already died since October as a result of food shortages and said there are probably more such cases.
At the end of 2023, the UN emergency aid office OCHA estimated that around a quarter of the approximately 2.2 million people in the Gaza Strip would be affected by famine at the beginning of 2024.
OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke said on Friday that the office was still working on the basis of this estimate, but did not have any current statistics.
