Israel weaponizing aid in Gaza as hunger crisis deepens by all-out blockade: UN
The United Nations has censured Israel for weaponizing humanitarian assistance as the regime forces continue to block aid into the besieged Gaza Strip.
Speaking to reporters in Gaza City, Jonathan Whittall, head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the occupied Palestinian territories, described the situation in Gaza as a devastating humanitarian crisis under what he termed an “absolute siege,” now nearing its third month.
“As humanitarians we can see that aid is being weaponized through its denial,” he warned. “There’s no justification for the denial of humanitarian assistance. And humanitarian aid should never be weaponized.”
“This is not only about humanitarian needs, but it’s about dignity. There is an assault on people’s dignity in Gaza today,” he added.
Whittall underscored that Gaza’s reality transcends conventional warfare. “People in Gaza are telling me that they feel like it’s the deliberate dismantling of Palestinian life in plain sight, for all to see, documented every day by you as journalists,” he said.
“Aid is being weaponized through its denial.” – @_jwhittall to journalists in #Gaza City.
Israel has imposed a nearly 2 month long blockade.
Nothing has entered. People are desperate and hungry.
It’s not only a humanitarian crisis, “there is an assault on people’s dignity”. pic.twitter.com/htk0mdeeGx
— UN Humanitarian (@UNOCHA) April 27, 2025
In March, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu banned aid deliveries into Gaza in a move he said was meant to pressure Hamas into accepting an extension of the first stage of the ceasefire deal, which Israel broke.
Every day, thousands of residents in Gaza, including numerous children, flock to community kitchens in search of food to feed their families.
The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) announced on Friday that it has dispatched its final remaining supplies of food to various kitchens, as supplies are running low.
Cases of malnutrition among children soar in Gaza
Meanwhile, head of the Therapeutic Feeding unit at Khan Younis’s Nasser Hospital, Dr. Ayman Abu Teir, reported a dramatic surge in malnutrition cases in Khan Younis.
“Children need the food pyramid for their development,” he said, adding that nutrients they need for their growth “do not exist in Gaza.”
The UN said it identified 3,700 children suffering from acute malnutrition in March, up 80 percent from February.
The Israeli army launched a series of airstrikes on the Gaza Strip on March 18, killing hundreds of people, injuring many others, and shattering the ceasefire agreement with Hamas and the deal on the exchange of Israeli captives for Palestinian abductees.
According to the Health Ministry in Gaza, at least 52,243 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and another 117,600 individuals injured in the brutal Israeli military onslaught on Gaza since October 7, 2023.
