UN warns on supplies for famine-stricken north Gaza after Israel shuts crossing
Wire desk byline Sourced from Xinhua, Dawn, Arab News, Anadolu and Minute Mirror. Translated and abridged by the GSRRA Desk.
The United Nations voiced grave concerns on Wednesday about food and other supplies running out in northern Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of people were already experiencing famine, after Israel closed the only crossing there last week.
Israel began its long-expected ground assault on Gaza City in the north on Tuesday and is stepping up efforts to empty the city of civilians by opening an additional route southwards.
Hundreds of thousands of people are sheltering in the city and many are reluctant to follow Israel’s orders to move because of the dangers along the way, dire conditions, a lack of food in the southern area, and fear of permanent displacement.
“There are grave concerns over fuel and food stock depletion in a matter of days as there are now no direct aid entry points into northern Gaza and resupply from south to north is increasingly challenging due to mounting road congestion and insecurity,” the UN humanitarian office (OCHA) said in a statement.
The Zikim Crossing was shut on 12 September and no aid groups have been able to import supplies since, it said.
Zamir Ahmed Awan is the founder and Chair of the Global Silk Route Research Alliance, a think tank in Islamabad. He studied engineering at Shanghai University in the 1980s, and years later he went back to China as Pakistan's science counsellor in Beijing, from 2010 until 2016, working on science and higher education cooperation between the two countries.…
