WFP: Gaza Relief Aid ‘Slows to Dribble’

 ‘Weaponizing Starvation’

WASHINGTON (KI) – Overly stringent checks on trucks at the Rafah crossing from Egypt into Gaza were slowing the flow of humanitarian aid to a “dribble” as hunger grows among Palestinians there, UN World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director Cindy McCain told Reuters.

The Rafah crossing, which is controlled by Egypt and does not border the Israeli-occupied territories, has become the main point of aid delivery since the occupying regime imposed a “total siege” of Gaza on Oct. 7.
“We’ve gotten a few – a dribble, just a dribble – of trucks in,” McCain said in an interview. “We need to get a large amount in. We need safe, unfettered access into Gaza so that we can feed and make sure that people don’t starve to death, because that’s what’s happening.”
While there have been some limited deliveries of food, water and medicine since Saturday, no fuel has been allowed in.
Three WFP trucks carrying about 60 tons of food - enough to feed 200,000 people for a day - entered Gaza on Saturday. One additional WFP truck has crossed since then, according to the agency.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said on Thursday it had received 74 aid trucks.
The daily average of trucks allowed into Gaza prior to the hostilities was about 500, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Thursday.
The UN agency providing aid to Palestinian civilians, UNRWA, has almost exhausted its fuel reserves and has begun significantly reducing its operations, he said.
McCain, who visited Egypt and met with officials, said each truck has to offload its cargo at a checkpoint for inspection, then reload it when the check is complete.
“The bureaucracy is insane,” McCain said, adding that while she understood checks were needed to ensure arms and ammunition were not being smuggled, it should be easier to get food in.
The government of Egypt did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Accusing the Zionist regime of “collectively punishing” over 2 million civilians in Gaza, the UK-based charity Oxfam said Friday that using starvation as a weapon of war is “inexcusable.”
“The call for urgent aid and a #CeasefireNOW is imperative,” Oxfam said on X.
In a statement on Wednesday, Sally Abi Khalil, Oxfam’s regional Middle East director, said: “The situation is nothing short of horrific - where is humanity ... World leaders cannot continue to sit back and watch, they have an obligation to act and to act now.”
Saying that every day the situation worsens in Gaza, she stressed that children are experiencing “severe trauma” from the constant bombardment.