World Food Program halts distribution in northern Gaza until safety improves

The UN’s World Food Program (WFP) on Tuesday announced that it had halted food distribution in northern Gaza until safety conditions there improve.

“The decision to pause deliveries to the north of the Gaza Strip has not been taken lightly, as we know it means the situation there will deteriorate further and more people risk dying of hunger,” it said in a statement, adding that it remains committed to reaching people across the entire Gaza Strip, which has been under Israeli attacks for months.

However, it said, the safety and security to deliver critical food aid and for the people receiving it must be ensured.

Stressing that the latest reports confirm Gaza’s slide into hunger and disease as food and safe water have become incredibly scarce and diseases are rife, it added: “WFP will seek ways to resume deliveries in a responsible manner as soon as possible. A large-scale expansion of the flow of assistance to northern Gaza is urgently needed to avoid disaster.”

Since last Oct. 7, over 29,000 Palestinians have since been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85% of the territory’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.