‘The people of Gaza are neither alive nor dead, they are just walking corpses’, UNRAW chief said – relief material is not able to reach

UNRWA Chief Philippe Lazzarini said in a post on X that ‘people in Gaza are neither dead nor alive, they are walking corpses.’ UNRWA’s latest report says that one in five children in Gaza City is a victim of malnutrition and the number of such cases is increasing every day.

Children have become extremely physically weak

The report says that ‘when malnutrition in children increases rapidly, the ability to cope fails, access to food and care is lost, and famine slowly begins to spread silently. The children our teams are encountering are extremely weak, frail and at high risk of dying if they do not receive immediate treatment.’

Most of those dying of hunger are children – report

Lazzarini said that so far more than 100 people have died of hunger, most of whom are children. He said, ‘Humanitarian partners should be allowed to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza without any hindrance. We have food and medical supplies equivalent to 6,000 loaded trucks ready in Jordan and Egypt.

India said – there should be an immediate ceasefire

Apart from this, India has appealed for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, supply of humanitarian aid without any hindrance and release of hostages, so that the worsening crisis in the region can be dealt with.

​Severe shortage of food and fuel

India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Parvatneni Harish told ANI, ‘Intermittent pauses in the conflict are not enough to deal with the level of humanitarian challenges that people are facing daily with severe shortage of food and fuel, inadequate medical services and unavailability of education.

95 percent hospitals damaged

He further said that WHO estimates that about 95 percent of Gaza’s hospitals are either damaged or completely destroyed. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights reports that more than 650,000 children have not been able to attend school for the past 20 months.

Israel imposes blockade

Israel banned all goods from entering Gaza in March, and later allowed limited aid supplies in from May, most of which are being sent through the US-backed and controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.