UN: ’Israel’ Weaponizing Humanitarian Aid as Gaza Faces Deepening Hunger Crisis

By Staff, Agencies

The United Nations has condemned "Israel" for weaponizing humanitarian aid, accusing the entity of deliberately blocking assistance to the besieged Gaza Strip as the humanitarian catastrophe intensifies.

Speaking from Gaza City, Jonathan Whittall, head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs [OCHA] in the occupied Palestinian territories, described Gaza’s condition as a "devastating humanitarian crisis" under what he called an “absolute siege” that has now lasted nearly three months.

“As humanitarians, we can see that aid is being weaponized through its denial,” Whittall stated. “There’s no justification for the denial of humanitarian assistance. Humanitarian aid should never be weaponized.”

He stressed that the issue extends beyond humanitarian needs to human dignity: “There is an assault on people’s dignity in Gaza today.”

Whittall emphasized that the situation in Gaza is not just a conventional conflict. “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,” he said.

In March, "Israeli" Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu banned aid deliveries into Gaza, claiming it was a measure to pressure Hamas into accepting an extension of the first stage of a ceasefire deal — a deal that "Israel" later broke.

Currently, thousands of Gaza residents, including many children, queue daily at community kitchens in desperate search of food for their families.

The UN World Food Program [WFP] announced on Friday that it had dispatched its final stocks of food to community kitchens, warning that supplies are critically low.

At the same time, Dr. Ayman Abu Teir, head of the Therapeutic Feeding Unit at Khan Younis’s Nasser Hospital, reported a dramatic rise in malnutrition cases among children.

“Children need the food pyramid for their development,” he said, noting that the necessary nutrients for growth “do not exist in Gaza” due to the ongoing blockade.

The UN reported that in March alone, it identified 3,700 children suffering from acute malnutrition — an increase of 80 percent compared to February.

On March 18, the "Israeli" army launched renewed airstrikes on Gaza, killing hundreds, injuring many more, and shattering the ceasefire agreement with Hamas, as well as the deal regarding the exchange of captives.

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, at least 52,243 Palestinians — mostly women and children — have been martyred, and another 117,600 have been injured since "Israel" launched its brutal military offensive on October 7, 2023.