ALBAWABA- The United Nations has suspended food distribution in Rafah, a city in southern Gaza, due to a severe shortage of supplies and escalating insecurity. According to AFP, over the past two days, no aid trucks have entered Gaza via a U.S.-established pier for sea deliveries.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric confirmed that no shipments had been delivered through the floating dock since Saturday.
The U.N. has not specified the exact number of residents remaining in Rafah following the intensified Israeli military assault that began on May 6, but estimates suggest several hundred thousand people are affected.
Abeer Etefa, spokesperson for the U.N.'s World Food Program (WFP), warned of an imminent humanitarian collapse in Gaza. "If food and other supplies don’t resume entering Gaza in massive quantities, famine-like conditions will spread," she stated.
The situation deteriorated further when a shipment on Saturday, consisting of 11 trucks, was disrupted by crowds of Palestinians who seized supplies, resulting in only five trucks reaching the central Gaza warehouse. No deliveries occurred on Sunday or Monday.
Aid entry through the main southern crossings has nearly stopped in the past two weeks, following Israel's incursion into Rafah on May 6.
The Rafah crossing into Egypt has been closed since troops seized it. Since May 10, only about three dozen trucks have managed to enter Gaza via the nearby Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel, with ongoing fighting complicating access for aid workers.
