The UN is concerned about the fate of a large number of babies in Gaza. Trucks with baby food arrived on Monday, but that aid has not yet reached the population, according to Tom Fletcher of OCHA, the UN organization for emergency aid.
Israel reports that it allowed five UN trucks with aid to enter the Gaza Strip on Monday. The United Nations said in an earlier stage of the war that at least five hundred vehicles per day are needed to help the population.
COGAT, the Israeli military agency that deals with Palestinian civilian affairs, says that baby food was mainly delivered on Monday. According to Fletcher, the trucks are indeed in Gaza, but the aid has not yet been distributed. In an interview with the BBC, he speaks of “a drop in the ocean”.
The amount of aid supplied is completely insufficient. As a result, according to Fletcher, around fourteen thousand babies are at risk of dying. He states that the next 48 hours are crucial.
Asked how he arrives at this number, Fletcher says that OCHA still has many teams in the temporary health centers and other shelters at the risk of their own lives. As a result, they have insight into the situation on the ground.
Fletcher hopes that around one hundred trucks with aid will be allowed in on Tuesday. According to him, these will also be mainly loaded with baby food and other food aid.