The food situation has improved, but the risk of famine in the Gaza Strip remains

The World Health Organization (WHO) this Friday considered the food situation in the Gaza Strip to be slightly improving, but warned that the risk of famine remains.

“There is a little more food, more variety of food (…), people are telling us that too,” said WHO spokesman for the Palestinian territories Rick Peperkorn, as quoted by the French news agency AFP.

International organizations have warned of the risk of famine among the 2.4 million residents of Gaza, where aid distribution has been affected by the nearly seven-month war between Israel and the extremist group Hamas.

At a press conference in Geneva, Switzerland, via video link from Jerusalem, a WHO spokesman said there were “simpler products” in Gaza.

“The markets not only in the south, but also in the north, have more wheat, but also a little more variety of products,” he said.

Pieperkorn said the “food situation has improved somewhat” but noted that the threat of famine has “by no means” disappeared in the small Palestinian enclave.

Speaking from Gaza, Ahmed Dahir, also from the WHO, made the same observation, noting that until recently the territory’s residents were “rushing by the thousands” onto aid trucks in hopes of finding food.

“The situation has changed in recent weeks,” the WHO doctor admitted.

The Israeli government regularly accused non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the United Nations of not distributing aid quickly enough.

NGOs and the UN blame the delays on restrictions and inspections imposed by Israel.

Dahir said the food situation remains fragile in the Gaza Strip, where local production has been completely destroyed.

He also noted that the population does not have money to pay for food.

“Access to food must now be sustainable and more diversified,” he said.

International aid, strictly controlled by Israeli authorities, has been trickling in, mainly from Egypt via Rafah, but is still far from sufficient to meet the many needs of the residents.

The war in the Gaza Strip was sparked by an unprecedented Hamas attack on Israeli soil on October 7, which killed about 1,200 people, according to authorities.

Since then, Israel has waged a military offensive to destroy the extremist group, in an operation that has killed more than 34,600 people and destroyed much of Gaza’s infrastructure, according to the Hamas government.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday welcomed progress made in distributing aid to Gaza but called on Israel to do more in this area.

Israel opened the Kerem Shalom crossing in December after pressure from the United States to reverse its initial decision to block all aid to the Gaza Strip.

At the urging of US President Joe Biden, Israel also opened the Erez crossing in late April, allowing Jordanian aid access to the north of the besieged territory.