United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Friday that "scattered measures" for Gaza aid are not enough after Israel told the UN it will allow a "meaningful increase" in aid. "It's not enough to have scattered measures -- we need a paradigm shift," Guterres told reporters at the UN's New York headquarters.
He had earlier said that in the aftermath of Israel's killing of seven humanitarian workers from World Central Kitchen, the UN "was informed by the Israeli government of its intention to allow a meaningful increase in humanitarian aid distributed in Gaza." Israel announced on Friday that it would allow "temporary" aid deliveries into famine-threatened northern Gaza, hours after the United States warned of a potential shift in its policy over Israel's war against Hamas fighters.
Palestinians in northern Gaza have eaten an average of just 245 calories per day -- less than a can of beans -- since January, according to the charity Oxfam. Charities have accused Israel of blocking aid, but Israel had defended its efforts and blamed shortages on groups' inability to distribute aid once it gets in.
The bloodiest-ever Gaza war began with Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel that resulted in the deaths of 1,170 Israelis and foreigners, most of them civilians, according to a tally based on official Israeli figures.
Palestinian fighters also took around 250 hostages, about 130 of whom remain in Gaza, including 34 whom the army says are dead. Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 33,091 people, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, while the United Nations has warned of "catastrophic" hunger.
Earlier, European Council president Charles Michel said on Friday that Israel's announcement to temporarily open aid routes into Gaza was "not enough" given the scale of the humanitarian crisis there.
"Gazan children and infants are dying of malnutrition. Substantial and urgent efforts are required to immediately end hunger as an instrument of war in Gaza," Michel wrote on X.
"Israel's announcement to reopen temporarily the Erez crossing point as well as to allow aid to enter through the Ashdod port is not enough." Israel announced on Friday that it would allow "temporary" aid deliveries into famine-threatened northern Gaza, hours after the United States warned of a potential shift in its policy over Israel's war against Hamas fighters.
Palestinian fighters also took around 250 hostages, about 130 of whom remain in Gaza, including 34 whom the army says are dead. Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 33,091 people, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, while the United Nations has warned of "catastrophic" hunger. - AFP
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