Emergency, 1.4 million in serious food insecurity in Gaza by December

The food available in Gaza is inadequate to provide people with the nutritional intake they need. This is the Emergency alarm one year after the announcement of the ceasefire in the Strip. The NGO, present in the area with two assistance clinics in al-Qarara and al-Mawasi, cites data from the Integrated Food security phase classification according to which by December there will be 1.4 million people in conditions of serious food insecurity.

Added to the shortage of food is the difficulty of accessing clean water. "One thing that particularly affects me as a midwife is the preparation of powdered milk, for example - explains Giulia Folci, midwife -. Unfortunately, in some cases it is necessary for the baby to take it and this is very difficult to prepare with dirty water and exposes children to very high risks".

According to the most recent estimates, since the announcement of the ceasefire there have been over 1,400 victims and more than 4,700 injured. Humanitarian aid continues to encounter severe entry difficulties, also due to limitations in the entry of materials and goods from the Kerem Shalom crossing with Egypt. The prices of food and essential goods have increased on average by 207% compared to before the war and, according to the latest data reported by the United Nations, the number of humanitarian aid trucks actually unloaded in the Strip has fallen from 77% to 70%.

"People no longer know where to take refuge. There were the first rains of the season which caught most of the population in now dilapidated tents - added Jacopo Intini, Emergency program coordinator in Gaza -.

Fires periodically occur because people burn garbage for cooking. We are approaching autumn and winter, rain and low temperatures will lead to a situation of further overcrowding and precariousness. It is now urgent for the materials necessary to repair the tents or build safer shelters to arrive."