\n
<\/p>\n
Without fuel, many basic facilities cannot function, from water treatment plants to medical infrastructure.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Gazans now on the brink of famine have been reduced to taking desperate measures in their search for food, scouring the roads taken by aid convoys, UN aid worker Olga Cherevko told UN News<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile we were driving, I saw an elderly man on the side of the road completely alone, kneeling down, and he was picking up handfuls of lentils that had spilled on the ground from one of the previous convoys that had been passing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was picking them up with his hands and just putting them into his t-shirt as this is obviously the only option he has right now to find food because this is how desperate the situation has become.\u201d<\/p>\n The latest reports from Gaza indicate that mothers who are unable to breastfeed because they are not eating enough now feed their babies ground chickpeas, bread and rice, which are not suitable for infants.<\/p>\n In a\u00a0social media post, the UN Children\u2019s Fund (UNICEF) stressed that \u201cthis is a condition that we can prevent,\u201d calling for increased humanitarian access.\u00a0<\/p>\n Separately, the UN World Health Organization (WHO)\u00a0emphasised that \u201cthe health needs in Gaza are immense. A continuous flow of medical supplies is critical.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, health workers on Wednesday reported that at least 50 Gazans were killed and 400 others injured while waiting for food near Zikim crossing in the north.<\/p>\n Ms. Cherevko, who works with the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, explained that her mission to Kerem Shalom on Thursday morning had been delayed at a \u201cholding point\u201d for two hours before being allowed to proceed to the crossing point separating Gaza from Israel.<\/p>\n Although the fuel supplies are welcome, they are far from enough, she insisted.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need hundreds of thousands of litres of fuel to be entering every day so that we can power even the most basic of our facilities to power, water, sanitation, healthcare, emergency telecommunications and other critical facilities effectively,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The announcement of daytime military pauses by Israel last weekend appears to have slightly reduced the amount of time aid convoys now wait for permission to proceed, the OCHA worker noted.<\/p>\n There has also been a \u201cslight reduction\u201d in security incidents involving Gazans taking food from UN trucks, she said.<\/p>\n In its latest update on the emergency, OCHA said that four days since the start of tactical pauses declared by Israel, \u201cwe are still seeing casualties among those seeking aid and more deaths due to hunger and malnutrition…Unilateral tactical pauses alone do not allow for the continuous flow of supplies required to meet immense needs levels in Gaza.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\nDesperate actions<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\u2018Tactical pauses\u2019 are not enough<\/strong><\/h2>\n