More food aid needed to end starvation in Gaza despite 'modest' raise - WFP

The World Food Programme (WFP) has called for more food aid to be allowed in to Gaza to quell widespread starvation.

Executive Director Cindy McCain said that while a slight increase in aid coming in is commendable, it is not “nearly enough”. 

"We're getting a little bit more food in. We're moving in the right direction ... but it's not nearly enough to do what we need to do to make sure that people are not malnourished and not starving,"

Her calls were made particularly in respect to vulnerable populations deep inside Gaza.

McCain, who visited Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis this week - including a clinic supporting children and pregnant and lactating women - highlighted ongoing difficulties in delivering aid to vulnerable populations deep inside Gaza.

"What we saw was utter devastation. It's basically flattened, and we saw people who are very seriously hungry and malnourished," McCain said.

"It proved my point that we need to be able to get deep into it (Gaza) so we can make sure that they can consistently have what they need," she said.

McCain said the WFP is now able to deliver about 100 aid trucks per day into Gaza, but this figure still falls far short of the 600 trucks that were entering daily during the ceasefire.

McCain who had on Wednesday met with IDF Chief of General Staff Eyal Zamir said she is hopeful that the WFP will have better access to Gaza.

At the meeting, she pressed for unfettered access, more safe routes and guarantees that trucks would not face long delays after clearance is granted.

The Israeli military (IDF) reiterated its commitment to humanitarian efforts saying in a statement that more than 300 humanitarian trucks enter Gaza daily with the majority of them carrying food. 

In a post on X, it “emphasised that the IDF is committed to ensuring humanitarian aid reaches the civilian population directly, rather than Hamas”.

A report released on Friday by the global hunger monitor, Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), said that approximately 514,000 people - nearly a quarter of Gaza's population - are currently facing famine conditions in Gaza City and surrounding areas.

Israel has repeatedly dismissed such findings as false and biased in favour of Palestinian militant group Hamas, against which it has been fighting in its almost two-year war.

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