Israel's aid restrictions deny Palestinian children ‘chance in life,' WFP chief says

Arab News

05-06-2025

LONDON: Israel's blocking of humanitarian aid to Gaza means a generation of Palestinian children are being denied a chance in life, the head of the UN's World Food Program said on Thursday.
Israel imposed a full blockade on food and relief supplies from entering the territory on March 2, before breaking a ceasefire and resuming its devastating military operation a few weeks later.
Limited supplies were allowed back in late last month but nowhere near to the scale required, WFP Director Cindy McCain told Sky News.
'It's very, very important that people realize that the only way to stave off malnutrition, catastrophic food insecurity and, of course, famine would be by complete and total access for organizations like mine,' she said.
'We're looking at a generation of children that won't have a chance in life because they haven't had the proper nutrients. Right now, we're looking at over 500,000 people within Gaza that are catastrophically food insecure.'
The resumption of limited aid supplies came after Israel built new distribution hubs in the territory run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a newly formed US organization.
Previously, the UN's Palestinian refugees agency UNRWA and the WFP were in charge of distributing aid in the territory. But Israel has banned UNWRA from working in Gaza and has taken control of the aid system.
"Do you believe that Hamas is taking the aid?" - @SkyYaldaHakim
Yalda Hakim speaks to the executive director of the World Food Programme @cindymccain as there are fears of famine in Gaza.
Cindy replies: 'I have not seen anything like that. I have no way of knowing.' pic.twitter.com/YhgvVNG38Q
— Sky News (@SkyNews) June 4, 2025
Scores of Palestinians have been shot dead this week as they attempted to access one of the new aid hubs in the south of the territory.
McCain said the new system was not allowing enough aid to get into Gaza to feed its malnourished population.
Speaking to 'The World with Yalda Hakim,' she urged Israel to allow international aid to 'get in at scale.'
'We need safe, unfettered, clear access all the way in and we're not getting that right now,' she said.
Her comments came as the GHF resumed its operations on Thursday after shutting down on Wednesday in response to the number of deaths near its hub.
McCain is the latest aid agency chief to deliver strongly worded condemnation of Israel's conduct in Gaza, where its military operation has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians since October 2023.
On Wednesday, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross Mirjana Spoljaric said Gaza had become 'worse than hell on earth.'