NEW YORK (Dispatches) – The UN says that local food systems in Gaza have been ‘devastated’ by the Zionist regime’s land and air strikes, highlighting access to food as one of the most pressing concerns.
“Our humanitarian partners are also warning that local food systems have been devastated by military ground operations, the bombardment of civilian areas and the presence of unexploded ordnance,” said UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric during a news conference, Anadolu news agency reported.
He stated that “access to food remains the most critical concern raised by community members across all group”.
Dujarric emphasized that food insecurity in Gaza is “worsening” daily, leaving people “more vulnerable”.
Describing the bakeries in Gaza as a “lifeline”, he said they are unable to remain operational due to a lack of fuel and flour.
Responding to Anadolu’s question on World Central Kitchen suspending its aid operations as well as UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) recently halting aid via Karam Abu Salem crossing due to security concerns, Dujarric referred to his previous comments about the ongoing lack of food, UN’s inability to distribute aid and said “the facts are pretty clear, and they’re pretty horrific”.
Faced with major food shortages after nearly 14 months of war, Palestinians describe long days hunting for flour and bread in the conflict-ravaged Gaza Strip.
Every morning crowds form outside the few bakeries open in the Palestinian territory, as people desperately try to get a bag of bread at distribution points.
Since the outbreak of war in Gaza last year, charities and international aid organizations have repeatedly warned of crisis levels of hunger for nearly two million people.
Essential goods like water, fresh produce and medicines are also scarce.
Gazans across the territory have told AFP in recent months how they wake up at the crack of dawn just to ensure they can get some flour or bread, with current availability reaching an all-time low.
In the southern city of Khan Yunis, AFP photographers saw dozens of people at a distribution point, bodies pressed against each other.
Over each other’s heads, everyone tries to reach out as far as possible to grab the round bread.
A small child, her face covered in tears, squeezes a coin between her fingers as she makes her way through the crowd of adults.
“I walked about eight kilometers (five miles) to get bread,” Hatem Kullab, a displaced Palestinian living in a neighborhood of makeshift tents, told AFP.