14,000 Babies Could Die In Gaza In The Next 48 Hours Due To Israel Blocking All Aid
More than 93% of Gaza’s children, about 930,000, are currently at risk of famine as Israel has been blocking all humanitarian aid from entering Gaza since March 2.
14,000 babies could die in Gaza in the next 48 hours due to Israel blocking aid, the UN said on Tuesday, May 20.
More than 93% of Gaza’s children, about 930,000, are currently at risk of famine as Israel has been blocking all humanitarian aid from entering Gaza since March 2.
On Monday, May 19, after facing immense international pressure, Israel finally allowed nine trucks to enter into Gaza for the first time in 80 days, far short of the 600 trucks needed to even begin tackling the humanitarian disaster in Gaza caused by Israel's blockade.
However, the UN said only five trucks had made it in so far as the rest were still under Israeli control, and two of the trucks were carrying shrouds to help bury the Palestinians killed by Israel.
Speaking to the BBC on Tuesday, the UN's humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, said that 14,000 babies could die in Gaza within 48 hours unless immediate aid reaches them.
He called the five trucks of aid "a drop in the ocean" and "totally inadequate" for the population of 2.3 million people.
He said that thousands of trucks with essential supplies, including baby food, are "ready to go" but are being blocked from entering the Gaza Strip by Israel.
"This is not food that Hamas is going to steal," he said, directly refuting Israeli claims that Hamas has been stealing aid, adding that the risks are looting, being hit by the Israeli military and in getting the baby food to mothers who cannot feed their children because they're malnourished.
The UN had said just days earlier on May 15 that it has enough trucks and aid supplies to feed all Palestinians in Gaza for at least four months.
“We have more than 171,000 metric tons of food on top of other life-saving supplies, and they’re ready to go the minute that Israel opens the gates,” the deputy spokesperson for the UN secretary-general said on May 15. “And we can do that immediately, and we can do it efficiently. And we’ve shown that we can do that because we did it during the ceasefire."
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