The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) revealed, last Thursday evening, that the hunger crisis throughout the Gaza Strip continues to worsen, amid severe shortage of supplies, severe restrictions on access, and violent armed looting.

The office said in its daily report that humanitarian partners in central Gaza have exhausted all supplies in their warehouses as of Sunday, while the Israeli occupation authorities continue to reject most requests to bring in food aid from the Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing in the west, to areas south of the Gaza Valley, indicating that about 120,000 metric tons of food aid - enough to provide full food rations for citizens for more than three months - are still stuck outside Gaza.

Humanitarian partners warn that if additional supplies are not received, the distribution of food parcels to hungry families will remain extremely limited, and more than 50 community kitchens that provide more than 200,000 meals daily to people in central and southern Gaza are also at risk of closure in the coming days.

The World Food Programme reported that as of Monday, only five of the 20 bakeries supported by the programme were still operating across the Strip – all in Gaza Governorate, and the bakeries depend on continued fuel deliveries by partners from southern Gaza to continue operating.

In this regard, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warns that the lack of fuel to operate generators is also crippling Gaza’s devastated health system, putting patients’ lives at risk.

The office said that the ongoing aggression on the northern Gaza governorate has seriously disrupted health services for the remaining survivors there, while access to Al Awda Hospital in Jabalia – the only hospital in the northern Gaza governorate that is still partially functioning – is extremely limited. The office added that the Israeli occupation authorities continue to reject the efforts led by the United Nations, including the last attempt yesterday, to reach the northern Gaza governorate.