Italy to launch aid initiative for Gaza with UN agencies, Red Cross

By Giovanni Legorano

ROME (AA) - Italy’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday it will create an international committee next week to get more food inside the Gaza Strip, where the population is grappling with an enormous humanitarian crisis.

Food for Gaza will include the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Food Program and the International Federation of the Red Cross, in addition to Italy.

“Now we need to get inside Gaza all the food aid it's needed. We want to promote a coordinated humanitarian initiative … to ease the access of food, alleviate the suffering of the population and guarantee food safety inside the Gaza Strip,” Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said in a statement.

The conflict has caused a dramatic level of unsafe nutrition, he said.

The deterioration of the situation could lead to a famine in two months with even more tragic consequences for the civilian population, especially women and children.

“The success of a coordinated intervention on food safety for Gaza’s population could, in turn, facilitate the conditions for the outcome for which Italy has been working with its international partners,” said Tajani.