Reports
Amid starvation in Gaza, Sudan, Guterres slams hunger ‘as a weapon of war’
As starvation worsens in war-torn Gaza, UN agencies repeated warnings on Monday that Israel’s decision to support a “one-week scale-up” of aid is far from enough to reverse deadly malnutrition rates in the enclave.
Summary
The development comes as UN Secretary-General António Guterres cautioned that conflict-driven hunger is spreading “from Gaza to Sudan and beyond”.
“Hunger fuels instability and undermines peace. We must never accept hunger as a weapon of war,” he said in a video message to the UN Food Systems Summit Stocktake in Addis Ababa.
Meanwhile, citing reports Monday that “more children died today of hunger”, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said that it hoped to receive permission to bring in thousands of trucks loaded with food, medicine and hygiene supplies that Israel has blocked from entering Gaza for months.
“They are currently in Jordan and Egypt waiting for the green light,” the UN agency explained, adding that “at least 500/600 trucks” are needed every day to prevent more people from starving. More than 100 people have now starved to death in Gaza, UNRWA said, while local health authority reports indicate more than 40 deaths from malnutrition this month alone.
“Opening all the crossings and flooding Gaza with assistance is the only way to avert further deepening of starvation among the people of Gaza,” the UN agency maintained.
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