NEW YORK: UN humanitarian officials have reported the largest displacement in Gaza amid intensified bombardment by the Israeli military since October 7.
The UN has to cut rations in Gaza where fresh evacuation ordered by the Israeli forces across the war-ravaged enclave. The UN World Food Programme (WFP) on Thursday warned that the delivery of lifesaving rations has become even more difficult.
“Many distribution points have had to shut down. Only a few bakeries remain operational,” the UN agency said in a post on X.
“We urgently need increased deliveries of food and greater capacity to deliver hot meals,” WFP added, as Israeli military action forces food distribution points in Gaza to close and relocate.
In July so far, WFP has provided food assistance to more than 600,000 people in Gaza, and more than 500,000 people with food parcels and wheat flour.
It has reported having to further cut rations in Gaza to ensure wider coverage for people who have been newly displaced, according to update from the UN aid coordination office, OCHA. It also reported that the Israeli military on Wednesday stopped all aid missions to Wadi Gaza.
OCHA said humanitarian workers were unable to reach hundreds of thousands of people in dire need. It said the Israeli offensive has made it impossible for them to collect supplies from the northern entry point of Erez West.
The UN food agency reported that as of 14 July, 11 of the 18 bakeries were operational in Gaza with the UN assistance providing support to several thousand families each day. The WFP said it still needs to deliver more support to the bakeries and other services, so they can provide emergency help to displaced families.
It said so far in July WFP has delivered more than 1,000 trucks carrying at least 7,600 metric tons of food and non-food items into Gaza. It added out of those, 584 WFP trucks carried 6,800 metric tons of WFP assistance.
The UN agency said rations were provided to ensure all kitchens have enough supplies for at least one week to address shortages in basic commodities. It warned unless more items are received, hot meal partners will deplete stocks in days.
According to Gaza’s health ministry Israel’s war on Gaza, now in its 287th day, has killed at least 38,848 Palestinians mostly women and children and injured 89,459 others.
