Israeli restrictions oblige UNRWA to halt distribution of food to the Palestinians

The UN Relief and Work Agency for the Palestinians ( UNRWA) said yesterday it had stopped the distribution of emergency food aids to 600,000 Palestinian refugees in Gaza.

In a statement circulated to the press, UNRWA said that almost half of the refugees receive food aids in the occupied Palestinian territories. It added that the stoppage came after restrictions imposed by the Israeli authorities on the only trade crossing the agency used to transfer its humanitarian aid through. It added that the storage of rice, wheat, food oil and other basic ingredients provided by UNRWA for the refugees in Gaza are almost expiring or affected because of a humanitarian crisis which has entered its 42nd months.

The statement added that so far, the efforts to convene the Israeli authorities to lift the restrictions on transferring empty food containers from Gaza have failed.