Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) Philippe Lazzarini said the Israeli forces’ ban on the entry of humanitarian aid amounts is a “collective punishment” of the population of the Gaza Strip and is pushing Gaza toward a severe hunger crisis.
According to the UN Information Center Monday, the UNRWA commissioner general said, three weeks have passed since the Israeli authorities banned entry of supplies into Gaza and that the population relies on imports to survive.
Lazzarini added, “A stifling blockade, longer than the one imposed during the first phase of the war… no food, no medicine, no water, no fuel… every day that passes without aid means more children going to bed hungry… disease spreads and deprivation worsens.”
He warned that every day without food pushes Gaza toward a severe hunger crisis, calling for immediate lifting of the blockade and uninterrupted widespread entry of humanitarian aid and commercial supplies.