UNRWA Palestinian families began moving their belongings after the Israel authorities informed them of their relocation to a new location.
United States President Joe Biden on Thursday prepared to meet with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss progress on a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all hostages still being held in Gaza. However, UN humanitarian agencies have warned that farming and even small-scale horticultural activities remain suspended and that Gaza continues to be under the shadow of further hunger and malnutrition.
Meanwhile, media reported that truce and hostage exchange talks, scheduled for Thursday in Doha, Qatar, have been postponed until early next week. Nearly 10 months have reportedly passed since Hamas-led attacks on multiple targets in southern Israel, with some 116 hostages still being held in Gaza, 44 believed dead.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) assessment of hunger in Gaza on Wednesday night revealed the dire situation and warned again that the relief supplies reaching those most in need are far from meeting the needs.
The agency noted that insecurity, road damage, law and order breakdowns and restrictions on movement continue to impede the passage of the main humanitarian cargo routes between the Kerem Shalom crossing and Khan Younis and Deir Balah.
Community kitchens are at operational risk
OCHA noted that six bakeries in northern Gaza – four in Gaza City and two in northern Gaza – received only enough "scarce" supplies to sustain operations for several days due to a persistent shortage of fuel and aid deliveries from central and southern Gaza to the north.
The agency warned that shortages of "critical supplies" were affecting community kitchens and increasing the "risk of corrosion and insect infestation from stranded food supplies" in the scorching heat. In addition, the production capacity of hot meals in Gaza and Northern Gaza is insufficient to support tens of thousands of newly displaced people. For nearly three months, commercial supplies have not been able to enter northern Gaza, resulting in an almost complete lack of protein sources such as meat and poultry in the local market.
Today, only a handful of locally produced vegetables are sold at "unreachable" prices in northern Gaza, OCHA said, warning that the lack of "seeds, fertilizers and other inputs for animal and plant production" remains a "key obstacle" to restoring local food production in Gaza.
OCHA also noted that Israel's military operations have wreaked havoc on Rafah since early May and triggered the evacuation of the population from the eastern Khan Younis region this week. According to the agency, "a large amount of agricultural production was concentrated there before the war".
In addition to the recent damage to greenhouses, Gaza's farms and fields are now unattended. The latest report from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warns that missing the upcoming farming season could destroy people's livelihoods.
This assessment is in line with previous warnings from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, which highlighted that agriculture in the Gaza Strip occupies more than 40 percent of the area and contributes up to 30 percent of daily food consumption.
According to FAO, the hostilities have caused widespread damage to the agricultural sector, bringing the production of vital fresh and nutritious food to a near complete halt and reducing access to the basic foods needed for a healthy diet.
According to the latest report on hunger levels, prepared in partnership with the United Nations, 96 per cent of Gaza's population, or about 2.15 million people, face acute food insecurity at the "crisis" level or higher. This is the third stage of the integrated food security stage sub-index.
