Gaza Food Access Improves, but Living Conditions Stay Dire

A young boy in Gaza City eats a plate of food.

A pregnant woman in Gaza feared she might lose her child due to malnourishment. Ten days ago, she gave birth and is now recovering, thanks to World Food Programme (WFP) facilities that have resumed operations, the agency’s representative for Palestine said on Thursday.

Speaking from Gaza to journalists in New York, Antoine Renard said that two months into the ceasefire, access to food has significantly improved, but residents continue to face severe hardship.

The update came a day after the UN and its partners issued a statement urging the international community to press Israel to lift impediments to humanitarian aid.

Over one million fed

WFP has reached more than one million people with food boxes and wheat flour, Mr Renard said.

Together with UNICEF, the agency is providing more than 300,000 people with preventive nutrition to avert malnutrition and help those already affected recover.

Additionally, WFP is supporting temporary learning spaces by supplying 190,000 kits, along with high-energy biscuits and fortified protein bars.

Mr Renard confirmed that people are now having an average of two meals per day, compared with one meal per day in July. Further information on the nutrition situation from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) will be released on Friday.

Access to food ‘not enough’

“Access to food itself is not enough,” he said. “Living conditions in the Gaza Strip remain very dire.”

Winter rain and humidity are creating extremely harsh conditions for vulnerable people. Mr Renard cited the example of a mother of five living in a soaked tent.

“That woman was actually saved by the fact that she was not submerged in water because they managed to lift the mattress,” he said.

Meanwhile, most people are using trash and wood to cook their food.

Overcoming impediments

To provide food assistance, WFP needs access to areas where Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) are operating, such as Jabalia and Beit Lahia in the north. The agency managed to open a distribution point in Beit Lahia last week.

At the regular UN media briefing, Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq said Wednesday’s statement warned that Israel’s new policies — including a new registration system for international NGOs based on “vague and politicized criteria” — are undermining relief efforts and risk collapsing the humanitarian response.