UN warns that food and water are quickly running out in Gaza

The United Nations (UN) announced on Thursday (12) that food and water in the Gaza Strip are quickly running out. Israel began a complete blockade on Monday (9) in the region, which is also replenishing energy and hospital supplies.

“People’s lives are at risk if a humanitarian corridor is not established immediately,” the organization said.

Last Saturday (7), Hamas began an unprecedented attack on Israel, breaking through 29 points of the barriers and killing more than 1,200 people, the majority of them civilians. Since then, the Israeli armed forces have escalated unprecedented violence in the Gaza Strip, which has already claimed more than 1,8000 deaths, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

According to Israeli authorities, the blockade will continue to operate until the more than 130 hostages captured by Hamas are released.

The UN, however, denounced the attitude and warned that such methods could constitute a war crime. The gesture was also criticized by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

“We are seeing a shortage of fuel, water and electricity,” said Samer Abdeljaber, regional director of the World Food Programme, a UN agency.

“Many bakeries will not have the capacity to supply food tomorrow. They are without electricity and water”, he lamented. “Tomorrow will be a very difficult day for people, both inside the shelters and outside,” she said.

This Friday (13), the Israeli armed forces ordered a complete evacuation within 24 hours of the northern area of ​​the Gaza Strip, indicating a large-scale ground invasion. According to Israeli military sources, more than 35 battalions and 300,000 soldiers are surrounding Palestinians in the region.

Nebal Farsakh, spokesman for the Red Cross in Gaza, says there is no way to safely move more than a million people so quickly: “Forget the food, forget the electricity, forget the fuel. The only concern now is whether you will make it, whether you will live,” Farsakh said.

“What will happen to our patients? We have injured people, we have elderly people, we have children who are in hospitals,” she warned.

An important geopolitical actor in the region, Turkey denounced the Israeli evacuation orders, classifying them as “completely unacceptable”.

“Forcing the 2.5 million people of Gaza – who have been subjected to indiscriminate bombardment for days and who have been deprived of electricity, water and food – to migrate to an extremely limited area is a clear violation of international law” and has no place in humanity”, announced President Recep Erdoğan.

“We hope that Israel will immediately reverse this serious error and urgently stop its merciless acts against civilians in Gaza,” he concluded.