Over 90 lorry loads of humanitarian aid have been retrieved by UN teams in a night-time operation to prepare them for distribution inside the Gaza Strip. This, three days after Israel eased an 11-week-long blockade.
Hours earlier 198 trucks entered Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing in the south of the enclave, carrying nutrition supplies, medicines and wheat flour.
The aid, which included flour, baby food and medical equipment, was picked up from the Kerem Shalom crossing on Wednesday night and taken to warehouses for distribution. Pictures showed a bakery producing bread with some of the flour, the BBC reported.
UN aid relief coordinator Tom Fletcher said until earlier this week, no commercial or humanitarian supplies had been allowed into Gaza since March 2, deepening an already catastrophic hunger crisis and sparking widespread condemnation from the international community.
According to the UN World Health Organization (WHO) at least 57 children have reportedly died from the effects of malnutrition, according to the local health authorities. The number is likely an underestimate and is expected to increase if the aid blockade continues.
In their latest report, UN-partnered food insecurity experts warned that nearly 71 000 children under the age of five are expected to be acutely malnourished over the next 11 months unless Gazans can access sufficient food and healthcare support.
Video footage published online Thursday by the UN World Food Programme (WFP) showed aid crews hurrying to offload sacks of flour from trucks at a floodlit warehouse.
“But it's nowhere near enough to support everyone in need. We need more trucks, more food, in now,” the UN agency warned.
No hygiene products or fuel have been allowed into the enclave by the Israeli authorities, the UN agency noted.