April 29 (UPI) — A full blockade of Gaza is leaving civilians with little to no food since Israel on March 2 halted aid shipments following the breakdown of an earlier cease-fire agreement.
The U.N. World Food Programme distributed its remaining food supplies for Gazan families on Friday and has no more to offer, WFP officials announced on Friday.
“Today, WFP delivered its last remaining food stock to hot-meals kitchens in the Gaza Strip,” the unattributed WFP announcement says.
“These kitchens are expected to fully run out of food in the coming days,” the announcement continues.
“For weeks, hot meal kitchens have been the only consistent source of food assistance for people in Gaza. Despite reaching just half of the population with only 25% of daily food needs, they have provided a critical lifeline.”
Aid closure to Gazans
The WFP announcement says no humanitarian or commercial supplies have entered Gaza for more than seven weeks while all main border crossings into Gaza are closed.
“This is the longest closure the Gaza Strip has ever faced, exacerbating already fragile markets and food systems,” the WFP says.
“Food prices have skyrocketed up to 1,400% compared to during the cease-fire,” the WFP says.
“Essential food commodities are in short supply, raising serious nutrition concerns for vulnerable populations.”
The WFP says aid corridors leading into Gaza have more than 116,000 metric tons of food assistance positioned near them, which is enough to feed a million people for up to four months.
Gaza has more than 2 million people who mostly depend on aid, but the complete blockade by Israel has led to shortages of food, medicine, drinking water and shelter supplies, the U.N. announced on Monday.
“When I knead and bake, I feel very ashamed of myself,” Um Muhammad, who is staying in a Gaza City shelter, told U.N. officials.
“So I distribute some bread to the children who come asking for a piece of bread.”
Muhammad said she still has some flour remaining to help feed her family of 11, but she won’t for much longer.
“We eat one meal a day, dividing bread among each person daily,” she said. “We eat canned goods, lentils and rice.”
When their current supplies run out, Muhammad said she doesn’t know what her family will do for food.
IDF: Hamas interferes with aid
The United Nations reported an increase in reports of looting in Gaza, including a weekend raid during which armed individuals removed aid from a truck in Deir Al-Balah and a warehouse in Gaza City.
During the recently ended six-week cease-fire, as many as 600 trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered Gaza every day, Israel Defense Force officials told the Jerusalem Post.
Hamas steals supplies from the aid trucks instead of allowing them to reach civilians, according to the IDF.
IDF officials on Sunday also announced Hamas is using U.N. Relief and Works Agency humanitarian aid bags to conceal weapons and ammunition.
IDF forces operating in the Rafah area located UNRWA humanitarian aid bags containing weapons and ammunition near a former school and hospital.
A photo of an opened UNRWA aid bag and provided by IDF shows it contained bullets and not food.
