Desk Report:
The Palestinian territory of Gaza has been completely devastated by the Israeli aggression. In the meantime, Israel has not allowed any relief aid to enter the region for the past one and a half months. As a result, a situation similar to famine and starvation has been created in the region. In this situation, the United Nations has warned that 14,000 children could die if sufficient relief does not enter Gaza. 14000 children could die in
Tom Fletcher, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, told the British media outlet BBC that five aid trucks entered Gaza on Monday. However, he said that this is like a ‘drop in the ocean’. He said that although the aid trucks have entered Gaza, they are still on the other side of the border, and have not yet reached the affected communities.
14000 children could die in
Noting that Israel had not done enough to ensure aid, Fletcher said on Monday evening: “Today we have nine trucks allowed to enter through the Kerem Shalom crossing. But this is only a drop in the ocean compared to the urgent needs and significantly more aid must be allowed into Gaza from tomorrow morning (Tuesday).”
14000 children could die in
The UN official added: “The limited amount of aid that is now being allowed into Gaza is certainly not a substitute for unfettered access for civilians in dire straits… To reduce looting, regular aid deliveries must be ensured and humanitarian workers must be allowed to use multiple routes. Commercial goods should complement humanitarian aid.’
Fletcher reiterated that ‘14,000 children could die in the next 48 hours if relief does not arrive.’ He said, ‘We want to save as many of those 14,000 children in the next 48 hours as possible.’ He insisted, ‘We need to flood the Gaza Strip with humanitarian aid.’ When the BBC’s Today programme’s Anna Foster said that 14,000 was ‘an extraordinary number’, Fletcher responded that it was ‘absolutely freezing’.
He said, ‘But that is our job, we will continue. It will be frustrating, we will be disrupted and we will face huge risks. But I don’t see any better way than to send food in to these children.’
The BBC’s Anna Foster asked Tom Fletcher how the UN estimated that 14,000 children could die in the next 48 hours without more aid. “We have a strong team on the ground and many of them have been killed doing their jobs,” he said. “But we still have a lot of people on the ground. They are in medical centers, in schools… trying to assess the needs.”
