UNRWA: Our warehouses are full of aid and capable of stopping the famine in Gaza

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) confirmed that the famine sweeping the city of Gaza "can be stopped," noting that its warehouses in Jordan and Egypt are "full" and contain enough aid to "fill 6000 trucks" and are ready for distribution.

This came in a press statement from the agency published on its official page on "Facebook" on Saturday, titled: "Reversing the ongoing disaster - Gaza flood with a significant increase in aid through the United Nations including UNRWA." The agency called in its statement for "the State of Israel to allow us to deliver aid to Gaza."

This warning comes alongside strong statements from the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, who described the situation in the Gaza Strip on Friday as a "man-made disaster." In a post on "X," Guterres described the conditions there as a "living hell," emphasizing that the situation is "not a mystery" but a "man-made disaster and a moral indictment and a failure of humanity itself."

Guterres stressed that "Israel, as the occupying power, has obligations under international law to ensure food and medical supplies," adding: "We cannot allow this situation to continue without punishment."

In a confirmation of the seriousness of the crisis, the largest initiative concerned with food crises in the world, the "Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Committee," warned on Friday of the worsening famine in the city of Gaza, indicating that it "will spread throughout the sector if a ceasefire is not reached and aid is allowed to enter without restrictions."

The committee reported that "the city of Gaza, which is home to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, is experiencing a famine that may spread south to reach Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis by the end of next month." This announcement marks a horrific turning point, as the initiative confirms the occurrence of famine for the first time in the Middle East.

The initiative explained that hunger "resulted from the blockade and the ban on aid, exacerbated by widespread displacement and the collapse of food production in Gaza," leading hunger to "life-threatening levels across the entire sector after 22 months of war."

According to the report, "about half a million people in Gaza, nearly a quarter of the population, are facing catastrophic levels of hunger, and there is a risk of many of them dying from malnutrition-related causes."

The escalation of these warnings is likely to increase pressure on Israel, especially in light of its stated intention to "escalate the war soon by seizing the city of Gaza and other strongholds of Hamas," which experts indicate will further exacerbate the famine crisis.