UN food agency calls Israeli denials of humanitarian missions to northern Gaza 'systematic limitation'

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

GENEVA (AA) – The World Food Program (WFP) on Tuesday described Israel's refusal of a humanitarian mission to the north of Gaza as a "systematic limitation" while the population faces a risk of famine.

"Very few assistance has made it beyond the southern part of the Gaza Strip," Abeer Etefa, WFP MENA spokesperson, told a UN press briefing in Geneva via video link.

To a question on how many humanitarian missions to the north were denied by Israel in January, Etefa said the figure is around 70%, which included not only the WFP mission but all UN agencies.

"There is a systematic limitation on getting into the northern Gaza," she said. "Not just for WFP, I think for pretty much everyone."

She noted that the food agency's last missions to the north took place between the 11th and the 13th of January, carrying 200 tons of food for 15,000 people.

"That is a very, very small number. And this is why people are becoming more desperate or impatient while waiting for food distributions because it is sporadic. They don't get it very frequently," she said, adding, "and they have no trust or confidence that these convoys will come again."

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), in the first two weeks of January, humanitarian agencies planned 29 missions to deliver life-saving supplies to areas north of Gaza. Only seven of the 29 missions were completed, accounting for 24%, either fully or partially.

There has been a "significant increase" in denials compared to previous months, OCHA said.

- Over half a million face famine

Etefa warned that the entire population of Gaza, around 2.2 million, is at IPC (Acute Food Insecurity) Phase 3 level, which requires sustained and regular food assistance, while half a million people are facing catastrophic food insecurity levels (IPC 5) and the risk of famine.

"More than half a million people are affected in the catastrophe phase - that's the most severe level of food insecurity - and the highest share of people facing high-level acute food insecurity that the IPC has ever classified in any given country or conflict ever," she said.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas on Oct. 7, killing at least 25,500 Palestinians and injuring 63,354. Nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli offensive has left 85% of Gaza’s population internally displaced 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.