NEW YORK, May 13 (Bernama-WAFA) -- United Nations (UN) spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said the number of daily meals provided to civilians in the Gaza Strip has decreased by 70 per cent this week compared to last week, the Palestine News and Info Agency (WAFA) reported.
He stressed the importance of UN teams entering Gaza and identifying citizens' needs on the ground.
"The number of daily meals in the Gaza Strip decreased from 840,000 meals last week to 260,000, a 70 per cent decrease,” he said during a press conference at UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday,
Dujarric emphasised that humanitarian aid is not limited to food alone.
He pointed to the need to provide direct water, healthcare, nutrition, education and protection services to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The UN spokesman warned that fuel is running out in health and water facilities inside the Gaza Strip, which has been under a tight Israeli blockade since last March.
He added: "Healthcare in Gaza is on the brink of collapse, as hospitals are facing large numbers of wounded amid a severe shortage of basic supplies, equipment, blood, and medical personnel."
The World Health Organisation had previously stated that preventing immediate access to food and essential supplies in the Gaza Strip was causing "further deaths and a slide into famine."
It pointed to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis released on Monday, which stated that 470,000 people in Gaza were facing "catastrophic levels of hunger (IPC Phase 5)," and that the entire population was suffering from acute food insecurity.
The report also noted that approximately 71,000 children and more than 17,000 mothers were expected to require urgent treatment for acute malnutrition.
-- BERNAMA-WAFA
BERNAMA provides up-to-date authentic and comprehensive news and information which are disseminated via BERNAMA Wires; www.bernama.com; BERNAMA TV on Astro 502, unifi TV 631 and MYTV 121 channels and BERNAMA Radio on FM93.9 (Klang Valley), FM107.5 (Johor Bahru), FM107.9 (Kota Kinabalu) and FM100.9 (Kuching) frequencies.
Follow us on social media :
Facebook : @bernamaofficial, @bernamatv, @bernamaradio
Twitter : @bernama.com, @BernamaTV, @bernamaradio
Instagram : @bernamaofficial, @bernamatvofficial, @bernamaradioofficial
TikTok : @bernamaofficial
