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UN: World Food Programme has exhausted food stocks in Gaza as hunger deepens
Summary
The World Food Programme says it has run out of food stocks in Gaza after an Israeli ban on supplies nearly two months long; U.N. officials warned of deepening malnutrition, closed bakeries, and a rapid depletion of essentials that is affecting health, shelter and water services.
The United Nations said the World Food Programme has exhausted its food stocks in Gaza after an Israeli ban on the entry of supplies that has lasted nearly two months, leaving kitchens that provide the last regular hot meals at risk of full depletion.
The briefing said the WFP delivered its remaining stock to kitchens serving hot meals but warned they are now expected to “fully run out of food very soon.” The spokesman added that the kitchens have for weeks been the only consistent source of assistance, reaching about half the population but providing only about 25% of daily food needs.
Why it matters: The depletion of food is compounding shortages across health, shelter, water and sanitation, U.N. humanitarian officials said. Malnutrition is deepening, injured people remain untreated and “people are dying,” the spokesman said.
Details: U.N. staff said 25 bakeries in Gaza supported by the WFP had already closed last month after wheat flour and cooking fuel ran out. The WFP also reported that more than 16,000 metric tons of food assistance — enough, the agency said, to feed about 1,000,000 people for up to four months — are positioned at eight corridors and ready to be brought into Gaza as soon as crossings reopen.
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs told reporters that rapid depletion of essentials is also affecting other parts of the response, including the health sector and shelter. The briefing noted continuing attacks on medical facilities, citing damage to the intensive care unit, solar panels and water tanks at Al-Dora Hospital for Children near Gaza City.
The U.N. reiterated that Israel, as the occupying power, has obligations under international law to ensure food and medical supplies are available and to facilitate humanitarian relief when not otherwise supplied. The briefing also described opportunistic looting of remaining supplies on the ground and said partners report the practice is now driven by desperation.
Looking ahead: U.N. officials said WFP and food-security partners are prepared to move prepositioned stocks into Gaza immediately once crossings reopen. The briefing did not specify when or how that access would be restored.
