Gaza facing famine threat, warns WFP

More border openings needed to deliver critical supplies amid tight restrictions

The World Food Programme has warned that the dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza could escalate into famine, appealing for more secure and functional entry points into the war-torn area to enable much-needed aid to flow in.

The renewed alarm came a day after the Israeli parliament approved new legislation banning the United Nations Palestine relief agency, UNRWA, and two weeks after the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification projected that 1.95 million people in Gaza, or 91 percent of the population, would face acute food insecurity.

Restrictions on humanitarian aid coming into Gaza are severe. This month, only 5,000 metric tons of food were delivered to the enclave, amounting to just 20 percent of basic food assistance for the 1.1 million people who depend on the World Food Programme's lifesaving support.