The United Nations World Food Programme announced the temporary suspension of the delivery of life-saving food aid to northern Gaza, emphasizing its commitment to urgently reaching people in need throughout Gaza, but safety and security must be ensured to provide vital food assistance there.

The program said in a statement today, Tuesday, that it is seeking ways to resume deliveries responsibly as soon as possible, stressing the urgent need to massively expand the flow of aid to northern Gaza to avoid a disaster. It pointed out that it requires much larger quantities of food coming into the Gaza Strip through multiple routes, as well as the necessity to open crossing points to northern Gaza, have an effective humanitarian notification system, a stable communication network, and facilitate security for the program's staff, its partners, and the people it serves.

The program clarified that the decision was not made lightly because it knows this means the situation there will deteriorate further and more people will face the risk of death from hunger. It noted that deliveries to northern Gaza had resumed last Sunday after a three-week halt following the raid targeting a UNRWA truck and due to the absence of an effective humanitarian notification system. The plan was to send 10 trucks loaded with food for seven consecutive days to help stop the wave of hunger and despair and begin building trust in local communities that there will be enough food for everyone.

It added that when the convoy headed to Gaza City, it was surrounded by crowds of needy people near the Wadi Gaza checkpoint, and the organization’s team could only distribute a small amount of food along the way after entering Gaza. The second convoy to the north yesterday faced chaos due to the collapse of the civil order.

The program warned of Gaza’s sharp slide into hunger and disease as food and clean drinking water have become incredibly scarce, diseases have spread, putting the nutrition and immunity of women and children at risk, leading to a wave of severe malnutrition where people are already dying from hunger-related causes.