120,000 metric tonnes of food aid stranded outside Gaza, says OCHA
- 2 hours ago
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that the hunger crisis across the Gaza Strip continues to worsen amid critical supply shortages and severe access restrictions.
In its daily report, OCHA stated that the humanitarian partners in central and southern Gaza had exhausted all supplies at their warehouses, at a time when Israeli authorities continue to deny most requests to bring food assistance.
Meanwhile, about 120,000 metric tonnes of food assistance — enough to provide rations to the entire population for more than three months — remains stranded outside Gaza.
Humanitarian partners warned that if additional supplies are not received, the distribution of food parcels to hungry families will remain extremely limited. More than 50 community kitchens providing over 200,000 meals a day to people in central and southern Gaza would also be at risk of shutting down in the coming days.
OCHA warned that the lack of fuel to power generators is also crippling Gaza’s decimated health system, putting the lives of patients at risk.
Meanwhile, ongoing attacks and hostilities in North Gaza governorate have severely disrupted healthcare services for survivors remaining there.
OCHA reported that Israeli authorities continue to deny UN-led efforts, including the most recent attempt yesterday, to reach North Gaza governorate.
DEATH TOLL COULD BE 40% HIGHER: An official Palestinian tally of direct deaths in the Israel-Hamas war likely undercounted the number of casualties by around 40% in the first nine months of the war as the Gaza Strip’s healthcare infrastructure unravelled, according to a study published on Thursday.
The peer-reviewed statistical analysis published in The Lancet journal was conducted by academics at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Yale University and other institutions.
Using a statistical method called capture-recapture analysis, the researchers sought to assess the death toll from Israel’s air and ground campaign in Gaza between October 2023 and the end of June 2024.
They estimated 64,260 deaths due to traumatic injury during this period, about 41% higher than the official Palestinian Health Ministry count. The study said 59.1% were women, children and people over the age of 65. It did not provide an estimate of Palestinian combatants among the dead.
FAMILY WANTS JUSTICE FOR CHILDREN: Bsharat was playing with her eight-year-old brother Reda in their village in the occupied West Bank. Moments later an Israeli drone strike killed him and two of their cousins. “It was the first time in our lives that we played without arguing. It meant so much to me,” the 10-year-old said as she sat on the concrete ledge outside the family home in the northern village of Tammun where they had been playing on Wednesday. At her feet, a crater no wider than two fists marked where the missile hit.
The wall behind her is pockmarked with shrapnel impacts and streaks of blood still stain the ledge. Besides Reda, Hamza, 10, and Adam, 23, were also killed. The Israeli army said on Wednesday that it had struck “a terrorist cell” in Tammun, but later promised an investigation into the civilian deaths. Batoul puts on a brave face but is heart-broken at the loss of her younger brother. “Just before he was martyred, he started kissing and hugging me,” she said. “I miss my brother so much. He was the best thing in the world.” Her cousin Obay, 16, brother of Adam, was the first to come out and find the bodies, before Israeli soldiers came to take them away.
“I went outside and saw the three of them lying on the ground,” he said. “I tried to lift them, but the army came and didn’t allow us to get close.”
‘LIKE BEST FRIENDS:’ Obay said his elder brother had just returned from a pilgrimage to the Holy City of Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
“Adam and I were like best friends. We had so many shared moments together. Now I can’t sleep,” he said, staring into the distance, bags under his eyes. Obay said the soldiers made him lie on the ground, while they searched the house and confiscated cellphones before leaving with the bodies on stretchers. Later on Wednesday the army returned the bodies, which were then laid to rest.
On Thursday, Obay’s father Khaireddin and his brothers received condolences from neighbours. Despite his pain, he said things could have been worse as the family home hosts many children. “Usually, there are about six or seven kids playing together, so if the missile had struck when they were all there, it could have been 10 children,” he said.
Khaireddin was at work at a quarry in the Jordan Valley when he heard the news. Adam had chosen to stay at home to rest after his pilgrimage to Makkah. He described his son as “an exceptional young man, respectful, well-mannered and upright,” who had “nothing to do with any resistance or armed groups”.
WAM / Agencies
