The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) has announced that it will once again suspend the distribution of aid in the northern Gaza Strip.

The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) announced on Tuesday February 20 that it was once again suspending the distribution of aid in the northern Gaza Strip. Three weeks ago, he had already suspended the sending of food aid to the north of the enclave, ravaged by more than four months of war, after an Israeli strike against a truck from another UN agency. However, WFP resumed deliveries on Sunday, but since then its trucks have been "looted" or fired upon amid "total chaos and violence", it said in a statement.

The goal was to bring ten trucks of food aid into this region of the small Palestinian territory per day for seven consecutive days, in order to “help stem the tide of hunger and despair and begin to build confidence among the population in the fact that there would be enough food for all”.

But on Sunday, a convoy heading toward Gaza City “was surrounded by a crowd of hungry people.” WFP staff managed to repel attackers attempting to board trucks before “coming under fire” in Gaza. And on Monday, several trucks “were looted” between the towns of Khan Younes and Deir Al-Balah, and a driver was molested.

An “explosion” in the number of child deaths in the gang

“The decision to suspend deliveries to the northern Gaza Strip was not taken lightly, as we know that this means that the situation there will deteriorate further, and more people will be at risk to die of hunger,” the agency underlines.

The WFP warned on Monday that an alarming lack of food, rampant malnutrition and rapid spread of disease could lead to an “explosion” in the number of child deaths in the strip.

At least 90% of children under the age of five in Gaza are affected by one or more infectious diseases, according to a report by Unicef, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the WFP. “Hunger and disease are a deadly combination,” WHO emergency manager Michael Ryan said in a statement.

A total of 2.2 million people are at risk of starvation in the Gaza Strip, according to the UN.