Gaza ‘hungriest place on earth’ with aid stymied – UN humanitarians

Starving Gazans continue to be deprived of aid as international relief efforts are being severely constrained by the Israeli authorities, the UN humanitarian affairs coordination office OCHA said on Friday.

“Gaza is the hungriest place on Earth,” OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke told reporters in Geneva, stressing that it is the only defined territory in the world where the entire population is at risk of famine.

“The aid operation that we have ready to roll is being put in an operational straitjacket that makes it one of the most obstructed aid operations, not only in the world today, but in recent history,” he said.

Mr. Laerke explained that out of nearly 900 aid trucks that were approved to enter from the Israeli side since the reopening of the Kerem Shalom border crossing between Israel and the war-torn enclave ten days ago, less than 600 have been offloaded on the Gaza side. An even lower number has been picked up for distribution in Gaza, he said, pointing to the “congested, insecure” routes which humanitarians are assigned to use by the Israeli authorities, as well as “significant delays” in the approvals.

The OCHA spokesperson stressed that the limited number of truckloads coming in is a “trickle”.

“It is drip-feeding food into an area on the verge of catastrophic hunger,” he insisted.

Mr. Laerke added that many of the trucks were “swarmed by desperate people” on the way.

“It's a survival reaction by desperate people who want to feed their families,” he said, adding that the aid on the trucks “had been paid for by the donors to go to those people”.

“I don't blame them one second for taking the aid that essentially is already theirs, but it's not distributed in a way we wanted,” he explained.

On Wednesday, hungry crowds overran a UN World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza, where limited stocks of wheat flour had been pre-positioned for use by the few bakeries able to resume operations. The incident reportedly left two people dead. In a statement WFP reiterated warnings over “the risks imposed by limiting humanitarian aid to hungry people in desperate need of assistance”.

OCHA’s Mr. Laerke insisted once again on the fact that the UN and partners have “tens of thousands of pallets of food and other life-saving assistance” ready to enter Gaza to relieve the suffering.

“The aid has been paid for by the world's donors, who expect us on their behalf to deliver it. It is cleared for customs, it is approved and it's ready to move,” he said.

A new US and Israeli-backed aid distribution scheme run by a private entity called the “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation” started operating independently of the UN this week in the Strip. On Tuesday at least 47 Palestinians were reportedly shot and injured trying to collect aid from its distribution facility in the south, according to information received by UN human rights office, OHCHR.

In reaction to the incident OCHA head in the Occupied Palestinian Territory Jonathan Whittall warned on Wednesday that the US-Israeli distribution scheme was "engineered scarcity: four distribution hubs located in central and southern Gaza, secured by private US security contractors, where those Palestinians who can reach them will receive rations."

Mr. Laerke told reporters that this “alternative modality” is “not working” as it does not meet people’s needs.

He added that it constitutes a “violation of basic principle of impartiality”, and that criteria for getting aid have to be based on need, and not the ability to walk for kilometres to a distribution point.

“It creates chaos, and it creates a situation that is extremely dangerous for people,” Mr. Laerke said. “Even if you enter one of those distribution points, pick up a package, the minute you're out of it… Are you a target for looters again? Yes, you are.”

The OCHA spokesperson reiterated calls by the humanitarian community for the reopening of all crossing points into Gaza, to enable delivery from all corridors, including from Jordan and Egypt.

“We need to be able to deliver food directly to families where they are,” as has been the case in the past, he said.

Highlighting the challenges for humanitarian access, Mr. Laerke said that over 80 per cent of the Gaza Strip is currently within Israeli militarized zones or under displacement orders. Since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas collapsed on 18 March nearly 635,000 people in the enclave have been displaced yet again.

-ends-

STORY: Gaza aid update OCHA 30 May 2025

TRT: 3:02”

SOURCE: UNTV CH

RESTRICTIONS: NONE

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ NATS

ASPECT RATIO: 16:9

DATELINE: 30 MAY 2025 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

1. Exterior wide shot: Palais des Nations, Flag Alley.

2. Wide shot: Speakers at the podium of the Press room.

3. SOUNDBITE (English) – Jens Laerke, spokesperson, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “Gaza is the hungriest place on Earth. And the aid operation that we have ready to roll is being put in an operational straitjacket that makes it one of the most obstructed aid operations, not only in the world today, but in recent history.”

4. Medium shot: Speakers at the podium of the press conference from rear; speaker on screens.

5. SOUNDBITE (English) – Jens Laerke, spokesperson, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “Over the past ten days since Kerem Shalom reopened, out of the nearly 900 trucks that were approved to enter, almost 600 of them have been offloaded on the Gaza side. A lower number has been picked up, from the other side. And there are reasons for that. The routes that we are being assigned to use by the Israeli authorities are very often congested, insecure. And there are significant delays in the approvals.”

6. Close shot: Journalist in the Press room.

7. SOUNDBITE (English) – Jens Laerke, spokesperson, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “Many of those were swarmed by desperate people on the way, who picked off the items. It's a survival reaction, a survival reaction by desperate people who want to feed their families, themselves and their kids. And by the way, the aid that is on those trucks had been paid for by the donors to go to those people. So, I don't blame them one second for taking the aid that essentially is already theirs, but it's not distributed in a way we wanted.”

8. Medium shot: Journalists in the Press room.

9. SOUNDBITE (English) – Jens Laerke, spokesperson, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “Our plan is: we have tens of thousands of pallets of food and other life-saving assistance that are poised to enter Gaza. The aid has been paid for by the world's donors, who, of course, expect us on their behalf to deliver it. It is cleared for customs, it is approved and it's ready to move.”

10. Wide shot: Speakers at the podium of the press conference from rear; speaker on screens.

11. SOUNDBITE (English) – Jens Laerke, spokesperson, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “The alternative modality that they have put up is not working. I mean, you have seen, it does not meet the needs of people. It creates chaos, and it creates a situation that is extremely dangerous for people, to pick up the aid and to leave again, because even if you enter one of those distribution points, pick up a package, the minute you're out of it, what do you think? Are you a target for looters again? Yes, you are.”

12. Medium shot: Speakers at the podium of the press conference from rear; speaker on screens.

13. SOUNDBITE (English) – Jens Laerke, spokesperson, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “What we need now is a reopening of all crossing points into Gaza. Aid from all corridors, including from Jordan and Egypt. We need to be able to deliver food directly to families, directly to families where they are.”

14. Various shots of speakers and journalists in the Press room.