Aid entering Gaza remains 'drop in the ocean': WFP chief

The humanitarian aid that Israeli authorities are allowing into war-ravaged Gaza remains "a drop in the ocean," lamented the head of the World Food Program (WFP), Carl Skau, to AFP on Tuesday.

The United Nations officially declared famine in Gaza on Friday and blamed it on Israel, which has been ramping up deadly military operations there since Hamas launched an attack on it on Oct. 7, 2023.

Speaking through Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel rejected the accusation and denounced it as a "brazen lie." After imposing a total humanitarian blockade on the Gaza Strip in March, causing severe food shortages, the Israeli government eased the restrictions at the end of May and allowed aid to return.

There has been a "slight increase," the head of the WFP acknowledged in an interview with AFP during a visit to the Indian capital, New Delhi. "But it remains a drop in the ocean compared to the roughly 2.1 million people we support," Skau added. "A totally different level of aid would be needed to halt the march toward famine."

After months of warnings, the U.N.'s Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) confirmed Friday that famine was underway in the governorate of Gaza. According to U.N. experts, more than half a million Gazans are experiencing "catastrophic" conditions — the IPC's highest level of food distress, characterized by famine and death.

"The level of desperation is so high that people continue to snatch food from our trucks," the WFP chief said Tuesday. "When we are not able to organize orderly distributions, we cannot help the most vulnerable, the women and children in the camps," continued the former Swedish diplomat. "They are the ones who must be helped now if we want to avoid catastrophe," he insisted.

'Disaster'

Gaza is not the only region in the world suffering from famine at a time when humanitarian aid funding has plummeted (down 40 percent) in the past year, Skau pointed out. Some 320 million people are currently experiencing acute food insecurity — more than triple the number five years ago.

"We are facing a series of crises that, at other times, would be front-page news worldwide," said the WFP chief, citing the case of war-torn Sudan, where 10 million people are facing famine. "This is the most significant food and humanitarian crisis ... since the end of the famine in Ethiopia in the 1980s," he emphasized, "a disaster of unimaginable magnitude."

Neighboring South Sudan is also at risk and could become "a third epicenter of famine" on the planet, Skau warned, "which would be unprecedented."

This country "could even become the main food crisis" on the planet, with "considerable needs and, to be honest, very few available resources," he said. The decision by Donald Trump to drastically cut the U.S. humanitarian aid budget dealt a fatal blow to many humanitarian operations around the world. "We are facing a dramatic drop in funding when there should be an increase," Skau added.

While wars and conflicts remain the main cause, famines are also linked to "extreme weather events due to climate change" and to "economic shocks ... and trade wars that drive up food prices," the U.N. official reminded. "We are reaching out to countries such as India, Indonesia, Brazil and others, beyond the traditional donors, to see if they can help us," he said.