GENEVA: The United Nations said that it had distributed food parcels to one million people in Gaza since the ceasefire, but warned it was still in a race to save lives. The UN’s World Food Programme stressed all crossing points into the Gaza Strip should be opened to flood the famine-hit Palestinian territory with aid, adding that no reason was given why the northern crossings with Israel remained closed.
“Three and a half weeks into the ceasefire in Gaza, we have distributed food parcels to around one million people across the Gaza Strip,” said the WFP’s Middle East spokeswoman Abeer Etefa. “That’s part of the broad operation to push back hunger in Gaza,” she told reporters in Geneva, speaking from Cairo. WFP aims to reach 1.6 million people in the territory with parcels, which provide enough food for a family for 10 days. However, to get operations running at the level required, “we really need more access, more border crossings to be opened and more access to key roads inside Gaza,” said Etefa. — AFP
