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UN PhotoGAZA / FOOD SUPPLIES BLOCKADE
STORY: GAZA / FOOD SUPPLIES BLOCKADE
TRT: 08:03
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ARABIC / ENGLISH /NATS
DATELINE: 26 APRIL 2025, CENTRAL GAZA STRIP
1. Various shots, empty UNRWA warehouses and aid distribution centres in Nuseirat refugee camp
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Jonathan Whittall, Head of Office, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Gaza, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA):
“The coming days in Gaza are going to be critical. Today, people are not surviving in Gaza. Those that aren't being killed with bombs and bullets are slowly dying. People here are being suffocated. What we see around us is endless suffering under a total and complete blockade. A total closure that's now lasted for almost two months while airstrikes, ground operations are intensifying and displacement orders that are pushing people out of their homes are increasing. We know that hospitals are overwhelmed, yet the supplies needed to provide treatments are running low. We know that people are hungry and that malnutrition rates are rising, but our warehouses are empty, our bakeries are closing, and soon our community kitchens will be closed. We know that people are thirsty, but water wells are out of reach. We know that solid waste is piling up in the streets in Gaza, but we don't have the equipment or the landfills that are reachable to be able to move it. We know people are trapped under the rubble of the airstrikes, but we don't have the equipment to be able to rescue them or the fuel available to operate the machinery needed. We know that land is shrinking, displacement orders are increasing, fishers are being shot at sea and that nowhere in Gaza today is safe. We also know that sewage is flowing in the streets, but we don't have all of the supplies needed to repair the networks.”
3. Wide shot, street in refugee camp in Gaza City
4. Various shots, young men distributing food (beans) to displaced people
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Jonathan Whittall, Head of Office, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Gaza, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA):
“We know that children need to learn, but schools are destroyed or inaccessible, and we don't have education supplies available. Prices of remaining goods are rising across Gaza, but there's no cash available. We know that there's no cooking gas or fuel, that people are burning trash to generate some energy. UNRWA, we know, is irreplaceable but is under unprecedented pressure. We know that people are living on rubble, but we have no more tents or shelter material to provide them.”
6. Various shots, Umm Nidal Al-Basyouni preparing food for her children in front of her tent using firewood
7. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Umm Nidal Al-Basyouni, Displaced Person:
"Everyone is suffering from malnutrition, especially the children. What are the children eating? They spend all day standing in line at the food kitchen to get rice or beans, and sometimes there is none." "We take a plate of beans and keep it for the next day, but now the weather doesn't allow it, and if we wait, it will spoil. We can't provide anything for our children. The children cry every day asking for food, asking for meat and chicken. They follow the news about the Rafah crossing and shout when they hear news about it: 'We want chicken, meat, and fish.' We tell them, God willing, the crossing will open, and we will bring everything."
8. Various shots, dozens of Palestinians gathering in a designated square for food distribution to displaced people in Deir al-Balah City
9. Various shots, displaced individuals carrying different types of containers to receive food
10. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Displaced Person:
"We are living through more than a famine, this is more than a famine, but thanks to God, we are still alive."
11. Various shots, displaced individuals carrying different types of containers to receive food
12. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Displaced Person:
"It’s small so that I can carry it when I return. This place turned out to be far, very far. How will I get back? I don't have bread. Thanks be to God."
13. Med shot, child eating food after receiving rice meals
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Jonathan Whittall, Head of Office, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Gaza, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA):
“We know that this is not only about humanitarian needs, but it's about dignity. And there is an assault on people's dignity in Gaza today. We also know that humanitarian workers, first responders, you as journalists should be protected like all civilians, but we're being killed in a war that appears to be fought without any limits. In fact, this doesn't really look like a war. People in Gaza are telling me that they feel like it's the deliberate dismantling of Palestinian life in plain sight for all to see, documented every day by you as journalists, Palestinian journalists.”
15. Various shots, children eating food after receiving rice meals
16. SOUNDBITE (English) Jonathan Whittall, Head of Office, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Gaza, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA):
“Despite the challenges, we're continuing to try to operate where we can, to do what we can do to provide for people to meet their needs. But we have less and less and less supplies and less and less capacity to be able to meet the growing and growing needs that are intensifying across Gaza. Lives depend on the blockade being lifted, on aid being allowed to enter into Gaza, on the ceasefire being reinstated. And I hope that we see real accountability.”
17. Various shots, children eating food after receiving rice meals
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Head of Office in Gaza, Jonathan Whittall, today (26 Apr) said, “the coming days in Gaza are going to be critical” as “those that aren't being killed with bombs and bullets are slowly dying,” under “a total and complete blockade.”
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) allowed journalists to visit its main warehouses, which appeared empty of food aid, including flour.
OCHA warned that food supplies across Gaza are experiencing a severe decline as malnutrition rates escalate rapidly.
In a press encounter with Palestinian journalists in Gaza City, Whittall said, “we know that hospitals are overwhelmed, yet the supplies needed to provide treatments are running low. We know that people are hungry and that malnutrition rates are rising, but our warehouses are empty, our bakeries are closing, and soon our community kitchens will be closed. We know that people are thirsty, but water wells are out of reach. We know that solid waste is piling up in the streets in Gaza, but we don't have the equipment or the landfills that are reachable to be able to move it. We know people are trapped under the rubble of the airstrikes, but we don't have the equipment to be able to rescue them or the fuel available to operate the machinery needed. We know that land is shrinking, displacement orders are increasing, fishers are being shot at sea and that nowhere in Gaza today is safe. We also know that sewage is flowing in the streets, but we don't have all of the supplies needed to repair the networks.”
In a statement, OCHA said that one of the UN partners screened around 1,300 children in northern Gaza last week and identified over 80 cases of acute malnutrition, representing a more than twofold increase compared to previous weeks.
Whittall said, “we know that children need to learn, but schools are destroyed or inaccessible, and we don't have education supplies available. Prices of remaining goods are rising across Gaza, but there's no cash available. We know that there's no cooking gas or fuel, that people are burning trash to generate some energy. UNRWA, we know, is irreplaceable but is under unprecedented pressure. We know that people are living on rubble, but we have no more tents or shelter material to provide them.”
Umm Nidal Al-Basyouni lives in a tent with her children. She said, “everyone is suffering from malnutrition, especially the children. What are the children eating? They spend all day standing in line at the food kitchen to get rice or beans, and sometimes there is none. We take a plate of beans and keep it for the next day, but now the weather doesn't allow it, and if we wait, it will spoil. We can't provide anything for our children. The children cry every day asking for food, asking for meat and chicken. They follow the news about the Rafah crossing and shout when they hear news about it: 'We want chicken, meat, and fish.' We tell them, God willing, the crossing will open, and we will bring everything."
At a food distribution site, an elderly man said, “we are living through more than a famine, this is more than a famine, but thanks to God, we are still alive."
An elderly woman, for her part said, "it’s small so that I can carry it when I return. This place turned out to be far, very far. How will I get back? I don't have bread. Thanks be to God."
OCHA said nutrition partners reported a critical shortage of supplies due to the obstruction of aid entry and challenges in transporting essential materials within the Gaza Strip. It also stated that access to key storage facilities, such as UNICEF’s warehouse in Rafah, remains heavily restricted.
Whittall said, “we know that this is not only about humanitarian needs, but it's about dignity. And there is an assault on people's dignity in Gaza today. We also know that humanitarian workers, first responders, you as journalists should be protected like all civilians, but we're being killed in a war that appears to be fought without any limits. In fact, this doesn't really look like a war. People in Gaza are telling me that they feel like it's the deliberate dismantling of Palestinian life in plain sight for all to see, documented every day by you as journalists, Palestinian journalists.
He said, “despite the challenges, we're continuing to try to operate where we can, to do what we can do to provide for people to meet their needs. But we have less and less and less supplies and less and less capacity to be able to meet the growing and growing needs that are intensifying across Gaza. Lives depend on the blockade being lifted, on aid being allowed to enter into Gaza, on the ceasefire being reinstated. And I hope that we see real accountability.”
In a separate statement, UNRWA said this was “the longest period of aid blockage since the beginning of the conflict," noting that food, clean water, shelter, and healthcare "have become increasingly scarce," while the prices of essential supplies continue to rise due to the Israeli blockade.
The agency added, "Nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people," emphasizing that international law prohibits "indiscriminate attacks, obstruction of humanitarian aid, destruction of vital civilian infrastructure, and the taking of hostages."
UNRWA called for a renewed ceasefire, the dignified release of all hostages in Gaza, and the unhindered flow of humanitarian aid and commercial supplies.
