Families in Gaza 'probably starving to death' as aid trickles in: World Food Programme official
Aid reaching Gaza is just 'a drop in the ocean' of what's needed: Abeer Etefa
The humanitarian aid being allowed into Gaza is just "a drop in the ocean" compared to the plight of civilians inside the territory, says an official with the World Food Programme (WFP).
"There are families that are unreachable and are probably starving to death," said Abeer Etefa, senior communications officer for the WFP in Egypt.
"There is very little movement from one place to the other because of the damaged infrastructure, because of the shortage of fuel … no trucks are able to move around," she said.
Israel ordered a complete siege of the Gaza Strip two weeks ago, in retaliation for a Hamas attack on southern Israel that killed 1,400 people. Hamas has continued to fire rockets into Israel; while the Palestinian health ministry said Israeli airstrikes have killed 5,790 people in Gaza.
Last week Israel agreed to let some trucks carrying aid into Gaza at the Rafah crossing from Egypt, on the provision that shipments do not include fuel that could fall into the hands of Hamas militants.
Etefa spoke to The Current's Matt Galloway about her organization's work. Here is part of their conversation.
You have said that the aid that is reaching Gaza now is a drop in the ocean. How much more is needed?
So much more. So the arrival of the first trucks in Gaza is definitely a first step towards a food lifeline for hundreds of thousands of people that are in really desperate conditions. But much more access and assistance is urgently needed.
So far, I think all in all, probably less than 60 trucks have gone in over the last three days. If you look at the needs inside Gaza, this is of course a drop in the ocean.
Before the conflict, the number of trucks going [in] on daily basis from the Egyptian border inside Gaza for commercial purposes … [was] around 400 trucks every day. So you can make the math, and imagine how much is needed.
Some of those trucks are World Food Programme trucks. How many of them are waiting at the border? How much aid do you have waiting to cross?
So we've had all in all around three trucks get in, but we do have something like over 40 trucks waiting outside, carrying around 1,000 tonnes of food supplies. That's enough for 400,000 people for one week.
But the issue of the slowing or the slow trickling into … Gaza is of course a big problem.
We know that Israel is not allowing fuel on those aid trucks because of concerns that Hamas will use that fuel. How much fuel is left inside Gaza, as you understand it?
I don't have the record of how much is left in terms of supplies, but very, very little because bakeries are shutting down one after the other. Out of 24 bakeries that we are working with, I think we're down to two or three because of either the sustained damage or because of the shortage of fuel.
That's really something that's urgent and needed, because if we don't have these fuel for the bakeries, it means that they stop producing bread, which is the staple food commodity that people are surviving on these days.
Some people line up for bread for hours exposing themselves to danger, and still they go home empty handed.
The executive director of the World Food Programme, Cindy McCain, told CBC this weekend that there are people who are starving to death inside Gaza because of the lack of food. Is that your understanding?
Of course. I mean, it's a conflict area. There is very little movement from one place to the other because of the damaged infrastructure, because of the shortage of fuel. You know, no trucks are able to move around. So, of course, there are families that are unreachable and are probably starving to death.
Other NGOs, including UNRWA, the United Nations refugee agency in the region, have called for unimpeded flows of aid. How many trucks do you think should be allowed in now? Should it be an unlimited amount? Is that what you're calling for?
I think that is what the situation requires, unlimited amount getting in on a daily basis. We just need the access and assistance and the flow of supplies to be scaled up radically and to have, you know, unconditional access.
The aid is actually mobilized just a few kilometres away from the people who need it. It just needs to get in.
But it's going into an area that is being bombarded by Israel. We know that the air attacks continue, there's the possibility of a ground invasion as well. Is the WFP calling for a ceasefire in Gaza?
We're all working within the UN system. And the secretary general [António Guterres] has called for a ceasefire. So definitely we need, you know, a humanitarian pause or a ceasefire or whatever it takes for, you know, to give people, to give civilians the chance to take a breath.
We also want … people to be able to access humanitarian delivery points and services inside Gaza.
And we would like to definitely have safe access inside Gaza so that we're able to operate in a safe manner for our own staff, as well as for the people that we serve.
Audio produced by Niza Lyapa Nondo. Q&A edited for length and clarity
