Gaza’s Basic Food Storage Will Last Only for a Few Days

Basic food products, notably flour, rice and sugar, are due to run out in the Gaza Strip in little more than a week unless international aid organizations are allowed to continue bringing in fresh supplies, senior Palestinian officials warned Wednesday.

Gaza's border crossings to the outside world have been closed since late last week when Hamas assumed full control over the Strip last Friday after five days of violent fighting with the rival Fatah party of President Mahmoud Abbas. These crossings include the Rafah crossing with Egypt in the south, the Karni commercial passage in the centre and the Erez crossing in the north with Israel.

Gaza's 1.5 million residents need 450 tonnes of food each day and have enough in stock to last nine days, senior Fatah official Saeb Erekat told a news conference in Ramallah. Abbas has placed Erekat in charge of coordinating the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza with Israel via third parties, including the World Food Programme (WFP), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Red Cross.

Warning of a "catastrophe" in Gaza, he spoke of a "dire" economic situation, which was becoming "very serious."

Abbas said Gaza needed 11 tonnes of sugar a day and had enough left for seven days. The Strip consumes 77 tonnes of rice, with enough in stock to last eight days and flour was expected to run out in about a week as well.

Hospitals and medical facilities in the Strip meanwhile are also reporting a worsening lack of supplies, with Erekat putting their daily needs at 33 tonnes of drugs and medical equipment a day, while the WHO was now supplying only 8 tonnes daily.

Some 650 Palestinians have been injured in the Gaza internecine fighting, he said, adding that he contacted Israel to allow 55 of them who were in critical condition to receive medical treatment in Israeli hospitals.

Israel has instructed the Israeli Dor Alon company to resume supply of natural gas and petrol to the Strip, reducing fears of fuel shortages, while many fresh vegetables, including eggplants, cucumbers and tomatoes, are grown locally and therefore are not lacking.

The Israeli military said in an announcement that it coordinated the entry of 22 containers carrying 200 tonnes of basic food products and 30 tonnes of medical supplies into Gaza Tuesday.

Source-IANS
SRM/S