The humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza is not caused by a shortage of food but by the inability to deliver aid, said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell, as children continue to die of hunger, Anadolu Agency reported.

“For months, children have been living without sufficient food,” she told CBS. “We are witnessing a horrific situation in which they are on the brink of starvation and ultimately dying from malnutrition.”

Russell stressed that the tragedy is preventable, as food supplies are nearby but not reaching those in need. “This didn’t happen because of cyclones or drought. This happened because we have failed to get enough aid to these children,” she said.

In response to Israeli claims that there are no conditions for famine in Gaza, Russell defended the independent assessments of the Official Food Security Classification (IPC), which confirmed the presence of famine in the northern part of the strip. “These are specialists who make decisions based on levels of malnutrition, lack of food, and real cases of death from hunger,” she explained. “We know that children are dying. I’m tired of this debate about whether we are providing accurate information. Let international media have access and see for themselves.”

Russell criticized Israel’s mechanism called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), emphasizing that it contradicts humanitarian standards. She recalled that the UN previously operated 400 distribution points, while the GHF maintains only four. “Just let us do our job. We know how to do it,” Russell urged.

In March, Israel closed all crossings into Gaza and blocked deliveries of humanitarian aid. Since the end of May, it has introduced a unilateral delivery mechanism through the GHF, bypassing the UN and major aid organizations.

According to the health ministry in Gaza, this mechanism has led to the deaths of over 2,000 Palestinians and the injury of more than 15,000 people waiting for humanitarian deliveries.

The IPC has confirmed that famine has already gripped the northern part of the enclave and will spread further south by the end of September. Since October 2023, Israel has killed more than 62,600 Palestinians in Gaza, devastating the territory and rendering it uninhabitable. | BGNES