UN: Gazans need ‘Exponential’ Aid Boost
Sudan Events – Agencies
UN aid officials welcomed the news on Tuesday that an aid ship had left Cyprus for Gaza carrying 200 tonnes of relief supplies but stressed that it was “not a substitute” for overland assistance to Gazans on the verge of famine.
“Any food and other emergency aid that comes into Gaza, as we all know, is desperately needed; there is no question about it,” said Jens Laerke, spokesperson for UN aid coordination office, OCHA.
“So, it’s highly appreciated…But it’s not a substitute for the overland transport of food and other emergency aid into Gaza and particularly northern Gaza. It cannot make up for that.”
The UN official’s comments came as the international charity World Central Kitchen announced that its vessel, Open Arms, had set sail for Gaza, some 200 nautical miles away. “The people of the North will be fed!” it said in a tweet on X, formerly Twitter.
The NGO has already worked with UN aid teams in Rafah in southern Gaza, where some 1.5 million have sought shelter amid daily Israeli bombardment and fighting for the last five months, prompted by Hamas-led terror attacks in Israel that left some 1,200 dead and more than 250 taken hostage.
