Thousands in Gaza suffering 'cruelty of hunger and malnutrition': UN

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - The president of the UN General Assembly expressed concern after the UN Food Agency paused deliveries to the northern Gaza Strip.

"Thousands in Gaza are suffering the cruelty of hunger and malnutrition, and aid deliveries are being scaled back when they need to be increased.

"I reiterate my own and the UN General Assembly’s repeated demands for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. It is a matter of life and death, including of innocent children," Dennis Francis wrote on X.

His remarks came after the UN World Food Programme (WFP) announced Tuesday that it is pausing deliveries of life-saving food aid to northern Gaza "until conditions are in place that allow for safe distributions."

"WFP is deeply committed to urgently reaching desperate people across Gaza but the safety and security to deliver critical food aid - and for the people receiving it - must be ensured," it said in a statement.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 Hamas attack. The ensuing Israeli attacks have killed more than 29,410 Palestinians and caused mass destruction and shortages of necessities. Less than 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85% of the territory's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.