By Rania Abu Shamala
ISTANBUL (AA) – The chief of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) stated on Thursday that hunger is something people in Gaza have never ever known before.
After completing his third visit to Gaza, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini stated at a press conference in Geneva: “Hunger is something people in Gaza have never ever known before. But hunger has now emerged over the last few weeks and we meet more and more people who haven’t eaten for one, two or three days.”
“People – and this is also something completely new – people are stopping aid trucks, taking the food, and eating it right away. This is how desperate and hungry they are,” Lazzarini further stated.
He asserted: “The siege on Gaza must be lifted and what we need today is not just 100 trucks, or 200 trucks. We need a meaningful, at scale, uninterrupted and unconditional flow of basic commodities into the Gaza Strip. This is the only way to reverse the negative impact of the siege.”
Israel has bombarded the Gaza Strip from the air and land, imposed a siege and mounted a ground offensive in retaliation for a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7.
At least 18,787 Palestinians have been killed and 50,897 injured in the Israeli onslaught since then, according to Gaza’s health authorities.
The Israeli death toll in the Hamas attack stood at 1,200, while 135 hostages are still held by the Palestinian group in Gaza, according to official figures.