WFP: Starvation threatens Gaza residents
The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) warned on Thursday of the potentially fatal consequences of the dire food shortage in Gaza. In a statement the WFP writes that only ten percent of the usual food aid has entered the area since the start of the war. According to the WFP, what food has been delivered to Gaza since October 7 is “only enough to meet 7 percent of the population’s daily minimum calorie needs.”
“With the approaching winter, unsafe and overcrowded shelters and the lack of clean water, citizens are at risk of starvation,” writes WFP director Cindy McCain. “There is no way to meet current hunger needs with one operational border crossing. The only hope is to open another safe passage for humanitarian access to bring life-saving food to Gaza.”
Earlier this week, the WFP wrote that the last bakery in Gaza it worked with had to close due to a fuel shortage. All 130 bakeries in the area have now closed because they can no longer make bread, writes the WFP, which emphasizes that even when food aid reaches Gaza, it is often too unsafe for residents to get to distribution points.
:strip_icc()/s3/static.nrc.nl/liveblog/files/2023/11/anp-481458866.jpg|//images.nrc.nl/7gBs5RTk-5uHu4oescB7YZqxHIY=/5760x/smart/filters:no_upscale():strip_icc()/s3/static.nrc.nl/liveblog/files/2023/11/anp-481458866.jpg)
A destroyed bakery in Nasairat refugee camp. Photo Mohammed Saber / EPA
Israel shows images of weapons allegedly found at Al-Shifa
The Israeli army on Thursday images posted of weapons allegedly found in the raid on Gaza’s Al-Shifa hospital. The weapons were allegedly found in a car on the hospital grounds and contained automatic weapons, rocket launchers and explosives. The Israeli military’s claims have not been independently verified.
In addition to the weapons, the Israeli army has shown images of what would be the beginning of a tunnel under the hospital. Israel has long claimed that there is a Hamas command center beneath the Al-Shifa hospital. The hospital has been the target of shelling in recent days and earlier this week the complex was invaded by Israeli soldiers.
The Israeli army reports according to The New York Times that the search for the command center is slow and not over, and that Hamas would have had enough time to move or destroy evidence. Earlier on Thursday, a Hamas spokesman said the images of Israel were “weak and ridiculous” and that Israel itself had laid down its weapons.