Gaza: Access to food improves but living conditions remain dire

This article is published in association with United Nations.

A pregnant woman in Gaza thought she might lose her child because of malnourishment. Ten days ago, she gave birth and is now in recovery thanks to World Food Programme (WFP) facilities that are back up and running again, the agency’s representative for Palestine said on Thursday.

Speaking from Gaza to journalists in New York, Antoine Renard said that two months into the ceasefire, food access has significantly improved but Gazans continue to face severe hardship.  

The update comes a day after the UN and partners issued a statement calling on the international community to press Israel to lift impediments to humanitarian aid.

Over one million fed  

WFP has managed to reach more than one million people with food boxes and wheat flour, Mr. Renard said.  

Together with UNICEF, the agency is providing over 300,000 people with preventive nutrition designed to prevent malnutrition and help those already malnourished to recover.  

Additionally, the agency is supporting temporary learning spaces with 190,000 kits which are being served with high energy biscuits and fortified protein bars.

Mr. Renard confirmed that people are having two meals per day on average, compared to the one meal per day they were having in July. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) providing further information on the state of nutrition will be released on Friday.

Access to food ‘not enough’  

“Access to food itself is not enough,” he said. “The living conditions continue to be very dire in the Gaza Strip.”

The rain and humidity of the winter period are creating terrible circumstances for the vulnerable. Mr. Renard brought up the example of a mother of five who was living in a tent, soaked.  

“That woman was actually saved by the fact that she was not in water because they managed to lift up the mattress,” he said.

Meanwhile, most people are using trash and wood to cook their food.

Overcoming impediments  

In order to provide food, WFP needs to go further into areas where the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) are on the ground, like Jabalia and Beit Lahia in the north.  The agency managed to open a distribution point in Beit Lahia last week.  

At the regular UN media briefing, Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq said that Wednesday’s statement gave warning that Israel’s new policies – including a new registration system for international NGOs that relies on “vague and politicized criteria – are undermining relief efforts and risk the collapse of the humanitarian response.”