Gaza ‘hungriest place on Earth’

Gaza is “the hungriest place on Earth”, according to the UN, which has warned that the Palestinian territory’s entire population is at risk of famine.Jens Laerke, a spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said the territory was “the only defined area – a country or defined territory within a country – where you have the entire population at risk of famine. One hundred per cent of the population at risk of famine,” he said on Friday.Laerke detailed the difficulties faced by the UN in delivering humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. Nine hundred trucks of humanitarian aid had been authorised by Israel to enter the strip since the blockade was partially lifted, but so far only 600 had been off-loaded on the Gaza side of the border, and a smaller number of shipments had then been picked up for distribution within the territory because of security considerations, he said.Laerke said the mission to deliver aid was “in an operational straitjacket that makes it one of the most obstructed aid operations not only in the world today, but in recent history”.Once truckloads entered Gaza, they were often “swarmed by desperate people”, he said.Daniel Meron, Israel’s UN ambassador, rejected the claim, saying UN agencies “cherrypick the facts to paint an alternative version of reality and demonise Israel”.“In a desperate effort to remain relevant, they lambast the best efforts of Israel and its partners to facilitate delivery of humanitarian aid to the civilian population. UN feeds Hamas, we make sure aid gets to those in need,” he wrote on X.

Gaza ‘hungriest place on Earth’

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Namibian Sun 2025-06-10

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Gaza ‘hungriest place on Earth’

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Namibian Sun 2025-06-10

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