US deadline for Israel: Will Gaza get more food trucks and medical help?
One year ago US gave Israel 30-days to fix Gaza aid problems or lose military backing. UN groups say not much changed - trucks cant reach people and food is hard to deliver in war-torn areas
About a year ago US officials sent a game-changing note to Israel: fix Gaza aid delivery in 30 days or lose some military help. Today‚ aid groups say not much has improved in war-hit areas
The north part of Gaza (where many kids still live) faces big food problems: UN groups say its getting close to mass-hunger. “Things are going from bad to worse‚“ says Muhannad Hadi from UN after checking north Gaza
Israeli officials like Gen. Elad Goren dont agree with these statements: “There is no starvation and no famine;“ he says while working at COGAT (the group that controls whats going in-and-out of Gaza)
Here are the main problems aid groups face now:
* Too few trucks get through - only 30-ish per day
* New check-points dont work well
* Food trucks often get stuck or robbed
* Most roads are too dangerous
* Not enough drivers allowed
The US wanted three big things fixed:
1) More food-and-aid trucks
2) Let stores buy stuff again
3) Help north Gaza more
Some small good news happened - they opened one more crossing point in mid-area‚ and few medical trucks got to some hospitals. But aid groups say its still super-hard to get help where its needed most
We need a safe and stable environment to be able to reach the affected population‚ and we dont have that
Winter is coming and about 2 million people dont have good places to stay - theyʼre using tents or broken buildings. The health system doesnt work anymore‚ and prices for basic food (when you can find it) are crazy-high: $25 for some lentils in north Gaza
