I’m a UN aid worker in a warehouse full of supplies being blocked from entering Gaza

While aid has started to trickle into Gaza, reaching some of the most vulnerable people and areas, the level is totally inadequate for the needs of the territory’s 2.1 million people, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa, has said. Subscribe to The Guardian on YouTube ► http://bit.ly/subscribegdn Charities have warned that thousands of people are on the brink of famine because of the Israeli blockade on aid, which, after months, was eased earlier this week amid growing international pressure. Israel imposed the blockade on all supplies in March, saying Hamas was seizing deliveries for its fighters – a charge Hamas denies. A total of 107 trucks carrying flour, food, medical equipment and pharmaceutical drugs from the UN and other agencies were allowed into the Gaza Strip on Thursday, the Israeli military has said. However, the UN says about 500 aid lorries entered Gaza every day on average before the war began, and that about 600 a day are needed to begin tackling the territory’s widespread humanitarian needs. Earlier this month, a global hunger monitor said half a million people in Gaza face starvation. In a warehouse in Amman, Jordan, where supplies have been held up during the 11-week siege, the Unrwa senior emergency officer Louise Wateridge warns that “letting a few supplies in at a drip and a drop is not going to make a difference. All of these supplies need to enter now”. “These aid supplies are just one problem that people in Gaza are facing right now on [top of] the many horrors that they have on a day to day basis,” Wateridge says. “The only certainty that we have is if these supplies don't get to the people soon, more people will die.” #gaza #palestine #israel #gazawar #gazaaid #gazafamine #gazafoodshortages