Amid claims by the Hamas terror group of unprecedented starvation in the Gaza Strip in recent days, a senior Israeli security official said Tuesday that the military had not identified famine, while stressing that actions need to be taken to “stabilize the humanitarian situation.” The official, speaking with reporters on condition of anonymity, acknowledged that recently there has been a significant drop in the amount of aid reaching Palestinians in the Strip, but blamed United Nations bodies for not collecting and distributing the food and supplies.
The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the Israeli military and Defense Ministry body responsible for coordinating aid deliveries to Gaza, said that some 950 trucks worth of supplies are waiting to be collected by the UN from the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings.
The official said that, on its own, the aid currently waiting at the crossings for collection was enough to supply the Strip’s food needs for two and a half weeks.“We have not identified starvation at this current point in time, but we understand that action is required to stabilize the humanitarian situation,” the official said, adding that there may be difficulties with accessibility to food in some areas, which he said was an issue that needs to be solved. (Read More)