UN SECURITY COUNCIL URGES ISRAEL TO LIFT GAZA AID BLOCKADE AMID FAMINE WARNINGS

UNITED NATIONS, May 15 (Bernama-Xinhua) -- The United Nations Security Council has called on Israel to lift its blockade on Gaza, where food supplies are dwindling and the humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate, Xinhua reported.

Addressing an emergency meeting held on Tuesday on Gaza's worsening humanitarian crisis, Tom Fletcher, the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, said the humanitarian situation in Gaza is deteriorating rapidly amid an Israeli blockade that has prevented the entry of food, medicine, water and shelter materials for more than 10 weeks.

"We have life-saving supplies ready, now, at the borders ... We have rigorous mechanisms to ensure our aid gets to civilians, and not to Hamas. But Israel denies us access, placing the objective of depopulating Gaza before the lives of civilians," he told the security council.

According to Fletcher, some 70 per cent of Gaza's territory is either under displacement orders or within Israeli-militarised zones, leaving hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped in shrinking areas without basic necessities.

"Every single one of the 2.1 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip faces the risk of famine. One in five faces starvation," he said, quoting a report from the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN (FAO).

Israel blocked the entry of goods and supplies into Gaza on March 2, following the end of the first phase of a January ceasefire deal with Hamas. It resumed attacks on Gaza on March 18, with at least 2,720 Palestinians killed since then.

Concerns over Gaza's humanitarian crisis have deepened following Israel's recent declaration that it plans to intensify its ongoing military campaign.

Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the UN, noted that nearly half a million people in Gaza are facing catastrophic levels of hunger.

He urged Israel to uphold international humanitarian law and lift the blockade to allow unhindered access to food, medicine and other critical supplies.

Gaza has become the most dangerous place for humanitarian workers, with more than 400 humanitarian workers killed in the current conflict, Fu said.

"China urges Israel to immediately cease its military attacks on Gaza," Fu said, noting that military action cannot resolve the conflict and only prolongs the humanitarian crisis.

-- BERNAMA-XINHUA