UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Executive Director Catherine Russell on Wednesday warned that the limited aid reaching the Gaza Strip is “nowhere near sufficient” for the needs of children facing a deepening humanitarian crisis.
“Children in Gaza continue to be killed, injured, and deprived of aid. The few trucks that have entered with life-saving supplies are nowhere near sufficient and have yet to reach those in desperate need,” Russell wrote on X.
Emphasizing the rapidly depleting supplies in the enclave, the UNICEF chief said: “We’re running out of supplies inside Gaza, and we’re running out of time.”
Russell’s remarks come after the UN humanitarian affairs office on Tuesday said Israel approved the entry of around 100 trucks carrying aid into Gaza, a significant increase from the nine cleared a day earlier, but still far less than is needed for the population of Gaza, who face near-famine conditions, according to aid groups and international organizations.
According to UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, none of the humanitarian supplies that crossed into the enclave were able to leave the loading area at Kareem Shalom to be distributed because Israeli authorities had only allowed one “highly congested” and “insecure” path to go through.
Since March 2, Israel has maintained a strict blockade on Gaza, denying entry to humanitarian aid and pushing the territory into famine, which has already claimed numerous lives.
Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli army has pursued a brutal offensive against Gaza since October 2023, killing nearly 53,700 Palestinians, most of them women and children.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.