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WFP / GAZA RISK OF FAMINE
STORY: WFP / GAZA RISK OF FAMINE
TRT: 2:50
SOURCE: WFP
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT WFP ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: ARABIC / ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: PLEASE CHECK SHOTLIST FOR DETAILS
15 JANUARY 2024, DEIR EL BALAH
1. Various shots, people fleeing Rafah with their belongings
Fearing an impending attack in Rafah, many displaced Gazans are again fleeing north to places like Deir El Balah
18 FEBRUARY 2024, DEIR EL BALAH
2. Various shots, displaced people in makeshift camp
With no infrastructure like running water, sewage, or electricity, the winter rains flood improvised camps like this leaving people struggling with cold, mud and illness.
Shot:
3. Med shot, set up for Um Muad Swaillam
Um Muad Swaillam lives in this tent with 17 family members. They all sleep on the floor. They have been displaced 3 times since Oct7th when they fled their homes with only the summer clothing they wore. They sold what little they had to buy the tent and now have no money to buy essentials like diapers.
4. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Um Muad Swaillam:
“There is no milk, no food, no drink like normal people. I lost 25 kilos in one month only. We can’t go on with this life, we can’t do anything. Look at this rain. The children, here in this mud and puddles. We can’t wash their clothes, we can’t find water to drink. Bread is expensive, everything is expensive. Canned food is expensive.”
16 FEBRUARY 2024, RAFAH
5. Various shots, WFP Food Distribution, families receive flour and canned food
17 FEBRUARY 2024, DEIR EL BALAH
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Matthew Hollingworth WFP Palestine Country Director:
“Every time a family is displaced they become more desperate they lose some more resilience and that's really a consideration when we are so worried about the threat of famine across the strip we know we can't reach everybody right now it's impossible to get into the North.”
28 JANUARY 2024, CENTRAL GAZA
7.Various shots, WFP Convoy Waits for Clearance to Proceed to Gaza City
The World Food Programme (WFP) is deeply concerned about an expanded Israeli military offensive in Rafah, where over a million people are crammed into a tiny area. As most aid is entering Gaza through Rafah and being distributed there, the offensive would further complicate relief efforts.
Even without an offensive in Rafah, we need a decisive improvement in security and access for humanitarian operations. We need additional entry points for aid and safe access throughout Gaza and at distribution points. Only five WFP food convoys have reached the northern areas of Gaza this year.
Throughout Gaza, efforts to set up service points for people in need are hampered by bombardments and constantly shifting battle fronts, which endanger the lives of ordinary Gazans and the UN and other humanitarian personnel striving to help them.
Humanitarian action is seriously limited by the insufficient number of border crossings in the south and the multi-layered vetting process for trucks coming into Gaza.
WFP today announced it was pausing aid deliveries to the north of Gaza until conditions are in place that allow for safe distributions. A breakdown of civil order is causing serious obstacles for all humanitarian groups trying to distribute aid. People in Gaza need to know that they can rely on a regular flow of food supplies, both from aid convoys and the private sector. Without this certainty, fear and chaos take hold.
WFP will seek ways to resume deliveries in a responsible manner as soon as possible. A large-scale expansion of the flow of assistance to northern Gaza is urgently needed to avoid disaster. To achieve this, WFP needs significantly higher volumes of food coming into the Gaza strip from multiple routes, additionally, crossing points to the north of Gaza must open. A functioning humanitarian notification system and a stable communication network are needed. And security, for our staff and partners as well as for the people we serve, must be facilitated.
WFP is ready to expand operations swiftly in the event of a ceasefire agreement, in particular to the northern areas of the Strip. We have food supplies at the border and will be able to scale up to feed 2.2 million people across Gaza. But we must have security guarantees and access to deliver safely, in coordination with other UN and humanitarian partners.
In January, WFP had the highest amount of food entering Gaza since start of crisis, around 22,000 mt, sufficient for more than one million people, on 1,272 trucks, including aid coming directly from Jordan.
Almost 1,000 trucks carrying 15,000 mt of food are in Egypt ready for entry.
Food and humanitarian situation in Gaza
Displaced and desperate, tens of thousands of Gazans are homeless with nowhere to go and nothing to eat. Around 90 percent of the population is currently displaced. Rafah, an area 20 percent the size of Gaza, currently hosts more than a million people. They are setting up tents and mattresses on the street and seeking refuge in shelters with no basic services.
Colder nights and winter rainfall are adding to the misery and the spread of diseases.
WFP and partners are on the ground, delivering food as it comes in inside shelters, in make-shift camps, in shops, but we are unable to guarantee a regular flow of food to people who so badly need it. Most food is distributed in Rafah, and very little assistance reaches people elsewhere.
The shortage of food, clean water, and medical assistance is particularly severe in the northern areas to which access has become almost impossible.
Two-thirds of Gaza's population was already dependent on humanitarian assistance even before this war. The sudden cut in food supply has led to catastrophic levels of hunger in an extremely short time.
Humanitarian aid will not be enough to deal with the worsening hunger among the population. Supplies from the private sector are a must to allow the markets to re-open and provide an alternative to food accessibility.
Lack of fuel, gas, telecommunications, and reliable electricity continue to hamper the implementation of humanitarian operations.
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