Humanitarian groups 'running out of ways to help' as hunger in Gaza spreads, Norwegian Refugee Council says

Egypt Independent

3 days ago

Humanitarian groups are struggling to help displaced civilians in Gaza as aid staff face hunger amid Israel's aid blockade, an NGO spokesperson told CNN.
'We're running out of ways to help, really, with this suffocating blockade imposed by Israel,' said Ahmed Bayram, media adviser from Norwegian Refugee Council.
Since Israeli tanks on Monday rolled into Deir al-Balah, a part of Gaza that had not previously seen ground operations and where displaced people have fled, distributing aid became more difficult, Bayram told CNN's Rosemary Church
'Deir al-Balah… is the capital of displacement in Gaza. It's become also the capital of aid in Gaza. And now Israel has attacked that part where exactly it has been calling on people to move to,' Bayram said.
NRC workers are only having one meal a day, 'so that their children don't go to bed with empty stomachs,' he added.
Frustration is also mounting because 'thousands and thousands of tons of food' are being left at border crossings while aid organizations are still mostly restricted from moving within the territory, Bayram said.
Israel has repeatedly claimed that it is doing this to prevent Hamas from stealing supplies. Aid agencies have denied that supplies end up in Hamas' hands.
While Bayram did not specifically name the Israeli- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, he said the current aid mechanism created chaos at distribution sites and called for an end to such operations.
'The first thing that has to happen is for this scheme to go,' he said. 'And the second, which is very simple, is for Israel to open the gates and allow the professionals, the real humanitarians … to do their job again,' he said.
GHF has defended its model of assistance delivery and blamed aid organizations for not cooperating.