Children Starving in Gaza as Israel Blocks Aid, UN Warns
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has warned that far too little aid is reaching Palestinians in Gaza, to the extent that children are now starving.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has raised alarms over the insufficient aid reaching Palestinians in Gaza, emphasizing that children are facing starvation and urging Israel to adhere to international law for safe passage of humanitarian relief.
OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke urged Israel to respect international law regarding the safe passage of lifesaving relief in the war-battered territory.
“I would say they are certainly not getting the amount that they desperately need to prevent a famine, to prevent all kinds of horrors that we see. It’s very, very little that is going around at the moment,” Laerke said.
He reiterated that the Israeli authorities are obligated under international humanitarian law to facilitate the delivery of aid to the besieged Gaza Strip.
Such a duty “does not stop at the border. It does not stop when you drop off just a few meters across the border and then drive away and then leave it to humanitarians to drive through active combat zones – which they cannot do – to pick it up. So, to answer your question, no, the aid that is getting in, is not getting to the people,” Laerke explained when responding to questions about aid access obstacles.
These remarks come as a 13-year-old Palestinian has lost his life due to starvation in the central Gaza Strip following the Israeli closure of the Rafah border crossing to humanitarian aid.
Palestine’s official news agency WAFA reported on Saturday that the teenager, identified as Abdul Qader al-Sarhi, succumbed to injuries at al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah.
Local medical sources cited by WAFA stated that the death toll from malnutrition and dehydration has risen to 37 in the Gaza Strip as Israel continues its offensive on the southern city of Rafah.
Israel launched the offensive against the Gaza Strip, targeting hospitals, residences, and houses of worship after Palestinian resistance movements initiated a surprise attack on October 7.
At least 36,439 Palestinians have been killed, most of them women and children, and another 82,627 individuals have sustained injuries.
More than 1.7 million people have been internally displaced during the war.
