UN: Food supplies in Gaza will only last for a few days

The World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that stocks of some essential food items in the besieged Gaza Strip, including rice, vegetable oil and pulses, will run out in the coming 1-3 days.

In an update published yesterday, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Gazan retailers are facing significant challenges when restocking available items from wholesalers due to widespread destruction, insecurity and lack of fuel.

“Food supplies entering from Egypt include mainly ready-to-eat food (canned tuna and date bars) and are primarily distributed to IDPs and host families in southern Gaza, with only flour being provided to bakeries,” OCHA said.

The UN agency quoted reports as indicating that no bakery is currently operational in Gaza City and northern Gaza where distribution of food assistance to IDP was almost completely halted for the past few days, following the intensification of the Israeli ground operations.

“Access to basic food has become an increasing challenge in Gaza,” OCHA posted on X.

Access to essential food is increasingly challenging in #Gaza. @WFP estimates that food supplies in shops will only last for a few more days.

Ongoing destruction and shortages of flour and fuel have left only a few bakeries operational.

Latest update: https://t.co/VTPNF0XaH3 pic.twitter.com/uebltFDFUJ

— UN Humanitarian (@UNOCHA) November 5, 2023

On Sunday, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor accused Israel of “sharply increasing in recent hours what can only be described as a war of starvation” against civilians in the Gaza Strip in an effort to deepen their difficult living conditions, which has reached catastrophic levels.

The Palestinian Health Minister Mai Alkaila said in a published statement yesterday that after 30 days of intense bombardment, the “Israeli occupation is still targeting everything in the Gaza Strip, including hospitals, places of worship, and shelter centres inside schools, in complete disregard of all international laws and in denial of human civilization.”

For a month, the Israeli army has been launching a devastating aggression against Gaza, killing 9,770 Palestinians, including 4,800 children and 2,550 women, and injuring more than 24,000 others.

Meanwhile, as many as 151 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank since 7 October and 2,080 have been arrested.

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