UN / GAZA WFP INTERVIEW
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STORY: UN / GAZA WFP INTERVIEW
TRT: 03:48
SOURCE: UNIFEED / WFP
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT WFP ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 15, 21, 23 OCTOBER 2023, GAZA, PALESTINE / 23 OCTOBER 2023, JERUSALEM
WFP - 21 OCTOBER 2023, GAZA, PALESTINE
1. Wide shot, trucks Carrying WFP food and other urgently needed supplies arrive in Gaza from Egypt
23 OCTOBER 2023, JERUSALEM
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Ali Zaki, Palestine Head of Communications, World Food Programme (WFP):
“We are ready, we are of the border. We have more than 40 trucks waiting by the border, along with plenty of other humanitarian agencies who also have high numbers of trucks that are waiting outside. And so, we're prepared for any time that we're able to enter again.”
WFP - 15 OCTOBER 2023, BUREIJ CAMP, GAZA, PALESTINE
3. Various shots, WFP bread being distributed to displaced families
23 OCTOBER 2023, JERUSALEM
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Ali Zaki, Palestine Head of Communications, World Food Programme (WFP):
“We've been providing wheat flour to bakeries. The bakeries are producing fresh bread that then gets distributed to the UN shelters for the displaced people in the shelters. We started off with almost 23 bakeries that we're working with to deliver food for the people in shelters. Right now, only four are able to operate, and so the majority of them can no longer operate because they've run out of fuel. They do not have enough power to get the machines working. And unfortunately, some were also hit. And so with this, you know, the collapse of essential infrastructure, the lack of fuel to make sure that the machines are running, it's really making a situation that is already catastrophic, worse.”
WFP - 15 OCTOBER 2023, BUREIJ CAMP, GAZA, PALESTINE
5. Zoom out, WFP bread distribution operation
23 OCTOBER 2023, JERUSALEM
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Ali Zaki, Palestine Head of Communications, World Food Programme (WFP):
“To try and make sure that we're reaching as many people as possible, we had to reduce the ration of food that we were providing per person to make sure that it's stretching out to as many people. And what we're also doing is we are aware that we cannot reach all the shelters every single day. And so, based on the capacity of the bakeries and based on the capacity of the distribution on the ground, we prioritize shelters that had not received in the previous day, for example. So, we try to make sure that nobody goes too long without having received any form of aid.”
WFP - 23 OCTOBER 2023, AL NUSEIRAT GIRLS SCHOOL, GAZA, PALESTINE
7. Various shots, truck carrying WFP canned tuna and other humanitarian supplies arrives and unloads at a school where some displaced people are living
23 OCTOBER 2023, JERUSALEM
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Ali Zaki, Palestine Head of Communications, World Food Programme (WFP):
“Our staff themselves are facing displacement. They're facing the loss of their loved ones and of course, the pressures of the whole situation on them. They're working or they're trying to work to make sure that they're reaching the people in need. But right now, the same conditions that have put these people in need is also applying to them.”
WFP - 23 OCTOBER 2023, AL NUSEIRAT GIRLS SCHOOL, GAZA, PALESTINE
9. Wide shot, WFP humanitarian supplies being unloaded at school
23 OCTOBER 2023, JERUSALEM
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Ali Zaki, Palestine Head of Communications, World Food Programme (WFP):
“Humanitarian aid, humanitarian work, humanitarian workers should be able to carry out their job to make sure that they can reach the people in need. That's, of course, not to mention how essential it is that civilians must be protected and the essential infrastructure so their hospitals, the bakeries, these all must be protected.”
WFP - 23 OCTOBER 2023, AL NUSEIRAT GIRLS SCHOOL, GAZA, PALESTINE
11. Various shots, WFP food and humanitarian supplies being distributed at school where displaced people are living
A spokesperson for the World Food Programme (WFP) in Palestine today (23 Oct) said the agency has “more than 40 trucks waiting by the border,” between Egypt and Gaza, and are “prepared for any time that we're able to enter again.”
Over the weekend two humanitarian convoys brought the first supplies into Gaza through the Rafah crossing. The first, on Saturday, included three WFP trucks containing food assistance. Sunday’s convoy also brought food supplied by the Egyptian Red Crescent and United Nations.
In Gaza, tens of thousands of people rely on small bakeries to find a loaf of bread to bring back to their families. People risk their lives and queue for hours, but they often go home empty-handed.
Ali Zaki, who is WFP’s Palestine Head of Communications, said, “we've been providing wheat flour to bakeries. The bakeries are producing fresh bread that then gets distributed to the UN shelters for the displaced people in the shelters. We started off with almost 23 bakeries that we're working with to deliver food for the people in shelters. Right now, only four are able to operate, and so the majority of them can no longer operate because they've run out of fuel.”
Zaki said, “unfortunately, some were also hit. And so, with this, you know, the collapse of essential infrastructure, the lack of fuel to make sure that the machines are running, it's really making a situation that is already catastrophic, worse.”
WFP estimates that for every person that received food assistance, at least six more are in need.
The spokesperson said, “to try and make sure that we're reaching as many people as possible, we had to reduce the ration of food that we were providing per person to make sure that it's stretching out to as many people.”
She said, “we try to make sure that nobody goes too long without having received any form of aid.”
The food on the WFP trucks included canned fish and food parcels containing pasta, wheat flour, canned tomato paste, canned beans. The canned fish was already being eaten by families in shelters over the weekend.
Zaki pointed out that WFP staff are also facing displacement. She said, “they're facing the loss of their loved ones and of course, the pressures of the whole situation on them. They're working or they're trying to work to make sure that they're reaching the people in need. But right now, the same conditions that have put these people in need is also applying to them.”
Humanitarian workers, Zaki continued, “should be able to carry out their job to make sure that they can reach the people in need. That's, of course, not to mention how essential it is that civilians must be protected and the essential infrastructure so their hospitals, the bakeries, these all must be protected.”
WFP has more than 930 metric tons of food stockpiled. That’s enough to feed more than 400,000 people for one week.