Gaza aid is a mere ‘teaspoon’ of what is needed, says Guterres, amid widening starvation and destruction across the enclave.

Palestinians in Gaza are enduring “what may be the cruellest phase of this cruel conflict,” says the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, warning that Israel’s escalating military campaign and prolonged blockade have pushed the population to the brink of famine.

“For nearly 80 days, Israel blocked the entry of life-saving international aid,” Guterres said in a statement on Friday, condemning the scale of human suffering. “The entire population of Gaza is facing the risk of famine.”

Although Israel has allowed only several hundred trucks to cross into Gaza this week following a partial easing of its 11-week siege, Guterres described the flow of supplies as woefully insufficient.

“All the aid authorised until now amounts to a teaspoon of aid when a flood of assistance is required,” he said.

The UN chief said the Israeli campaign has intensified with “atrocious levels of death and destruction,” while access for humanitarian groups remains dangerous and erratic. “Eighty percent of Gaza has been either declared an Israeli militarised zone or is under evacuation orders,” he noted.

“Without rapid, reliable, safe and sustained aid access, more people will die – and the long-term consequences on the entire population will be profound,” Guterres told reporters in New York.

In Gaza, Palestinians are struggling on a daily basis to “find food and drinking water, and still queueing for hours in front of whatever is left of the operational local community kitchens that are providing only a tiny amount of food for a hungry population,” said Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Gaza City.

“The amount of food or the aid that has been allowed for the past two days, is not enough or sufficient, and does not address the deepening humanitarian crisis caused by months of Israeli devastation and bombardment across the strip,” he said.

Meanwhile, Israeli attacks have killed at least 76 Palestinians across Gaza since Friday. At least 53,822 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since October 7, 2023 and more than 122,382 others wounded – most of them women and children.

‘Appeal for life-saving aid’

Israel claims about 300 trucks have entered Gaza since Monday through the Karem Abu Salem crossing, known as Kerem Shalom to Israelis, but the UN says only a third of those deliveries have reached warehouses inside the enclave due to security constraints and chaos on the ground.

The figure is far short of the more than 500 trucks that entered Gaza daily before the start of Israel’s war on Gaza in October 2023.

A new United States-backed delivery mechanism – run by the newly established Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) – is expected to take over aid distribution by the end of the month. Under the plan, private contractors would escort supplies to secure hubs, where civilian teams would handle distribution.

But the UN has refused to participate, saying the scheme does not meet basic humanitarian standards.

“The United Nations has been clear: we will not take part in any scheme that fails to respect international law and the humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, independence and neutrality,” Guterres said.

He stressed that the UN already has the infrastructure to respond. “The supplies – 160,000 pallets, enough to fill nearly 9,000 trucks – are waiting,” he said.

“This is my appeal for life-saving aid for the long-suffering people of Gaza: let’s do it right. And let’s do it right away.”

Source:

Al Jazeera and news agencies