The United Nations’ humanitarian chief has said 14,000 babies could die in the next 48 hours if aid doesn’t reach them.
Speaking to the BBC, Tom Fletcher said the Gaza Strip needed to be ‘flooded with humanitarian aid’ but that just five trucks of supplies entered the region on Monday.
Fletcher described this as a “drop in the ocean” and that the aid trucks, which contained “baby food and nutrition”, hadn’t yet made it to communities.
It was then that he revealed the UN’s fears that some 14,000 babies could die in the next 48 hours if the supplies don’t reach them.
“I want to save as many as these 14,000 babies as we can in the next 48 hours,” he said. “This is what we do, we keep going. It will be frustrating, we will be impeded and run huge risks. But I don’t see a better idea than getting that baby food in.”
When asked by the BBC’s Anna Foster how the UN had reached the chilling figure of 14,000, Fletcher explained they have “strong teams on the ground – and of course many of them have been killed”.
He added: “We he still have lots of people on the ground – they’re at the medical centres, they’re at the schools…trying to assess needs.”
Fletcher said he hopes to get 100 trucks into Gaza on Tuesday, but said they would be “impeded” at every point.
On Monday, Israel ended an 11-week blockade on aid entering Gaza, a blockade that has caused a humanitarian disaster in the region. Overnight, at least 38 Palestinians were killed in a series of Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip.
In recent weeks and days, international pressure has increase on Israel to allow aid into Gaza. On Monday morning, Sir Keir Starmer released a joint statement with French president Emmanuel Macron and Canadian prime minister Mark Carney calling on Israel to change course.
The statement read: “If Israel does not cease the renewed military offensive and lift its restrictions on humanitarian aid, we will take further concrete actions in response.”
The leaders added: “We have always supported Israel’s right to defend Israelis against terrorism. But this escalation is wholly disproportionate.”
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