»Im Gazastreifen droht eine Hungersnot«

Conditions in northern Gaza are particularly dire. On Sunday, February 18, we resumed deliveries to the north for the first time in three weeks. Our intention was to send 10 trucks per day, for seven days, to address immediate needs, and provide some reassurance to people living there that sufficient food would be brought in. However, on both February 18 and 19, our convoys faced significant obstacles. There were delays at checkpoints; they faced gunfire and other violence; food was looted along the way; and at their destination they were overwhelmed by desperately hungry people. 

As a result, we have been forced to pause deliveries of food to the north until conditions are in place that allow for safe distributions – both for our staff, and for the people receiving our assistance. This is not a decision WFP has taken lightly, as we know it means conditions will worsen, and more people will be at risk of dying from hunger-related causes. But the breakdown in civil order, driven by sheer desperation, is preventing the safe distribution of aid.We are now urgently exploring all viable delivery options to allow the resumption of operations in northern Gaza as soon as possible. This is an absolute humanitarian imperative. The staff on our convoys witnessed catastrophic conditions in the north: food and clean water are scarce, malnutrition is soaring and disease is rife. Madame President, immediate action is required to enable a huge increase in the volume of food and other humanitarian supplies going into northern Gaza. This is the only way to calm tension and restore some semblance of civil order. 

For this to happen, we need a functioning operating environment for humanitarian staff. We need the port of Ashdod and the Karni crossing to be open, so we can import food and other essential supplies swiftly and at scale.  And we need a working humanitarian notification system, and a stable communications network to keep humanitarian staff safe. If nothing changes, a famine is imminent in northern Gaza. We must all double down and live up to our responsibilities to ensure it does not happen on our watch.

Die vollständige Rede finden Sie hier.