Matthew Hollingsworth, WFP Country director Palestine warned that with limited access to the south, “we will undoubtedly see what we saw happening in the north in the early months of the war.”
Mr. Hollingsworth recently spent ten days in Gaza. From Jerusalem, he told journalists in New York that people in the enclave are “really at their wits’ end.”
UN news
Matthew Hollingworth, Country Director of the World Food Program (WFP) in Palestine
A gruesome ‘exodus’
He said the “exodus” from Rafah over the past 20 days “has been an amazing and horrific experience for many, many people.” Most have been displaced several times and had thought they would stay in a safe area for the rest of the war.
They have fled to areas where clean water, medical facilities and support are insufficient, food supplies are limited and telecommunications have stopped.
“Public health concerns are beyond crisis level” and “the sounds, smells and daily life are horrific and apocalyptic,” he said
“People sleep to the sounds of bombing, they sleep to the sounds of drones, they sleep to the sounds of war as tanks are now rolling into parts of central Rafah, which is only kilometers away. And they wake up to the same sounds.”
Great needs
Meanwhile, humanitarian workers have seen less and less aid coming in, and WFP bakeries in Rafah have closed due to a lack of fuel and supplies.
He said that from May 7 to 20, “not a single WFP truck moved from Egypt’s southern corridors to Rafah.”
The UN agency has been unable to access its main warehouse in the south because it was in an evacuation zone and the 2,700 tons of food inside was looted or destroyed during the fighting.
“We live and work in a precarious situation in the south,” he said, adding that some aid partners in Rafah can provide hot meals.
“We currently serve around 27,000 people, but that is not enough in Rafah itself, and we are doing our utmost to support people in the central areas, especially in Al Mawasi, where almost a million people have fled. this great exodus.”
WFP and its partners are able to provide approximately 400,000 hot meals per day to people in the Central Area of Gaza, but supplies are also limited.
Situation in the north
Mr Hollingsworth also addressed the situation in northern Gaza, which he said has improved following the opening of two border crossings. UN agencies had previously warned of an impending famine in the region.
“We are actually seeing the results of what can happen if there is a will to enable sufficient relief,” he said.
Since May 1, about 12,000 tons of aid have arrived from the various agencies, mainly food, “and the north looks very different as a result.”
The WFP official stressed the need for a ceasefire and the release of all hostages, noting that previous calls have gone unheard.
“We are tired. People are tired. We urgently need to start helping people go beyond this day-to-day existence and build a life,” he said. “And to do that, there needs to be a ceasefire the fire is coming.’
