Belgium has joined France, Spain, and Britain in announcing aid drops to Gaza as more people in the territory die from malnutrition.
It announced that it will take part in a multi-country operation to airdrop aid to Gaza as starvation seizes the Palestinian enclave.
The Defence and Foreign Ministries said in a statement that a Belgian plane carrying medical supplies and food worth about 600,000 euros ($690,000) will fly to Jordan “soon” and remain on standby to conduct further drops in coordination with Amman.
Belgian Foreign Minister, Maxime Prevot said that the airdrops are a first step, “but they can in no way be a cover for the urgent need to facilitate access by land.”
“I will continue to plead with the Israeli authorities to allow these deliveries to enter Gaza by road as quickly as possible.”
Maxime Prevot
According to data shared by Gaza’s Government Media Office, what has entered Gaza is a trickle of aid that cannot even be enough to meet the demands of the population for even a single day.
Over the past four days, 269 aid trucks have entered Gaza, and most of them were looted by hungry crowds. Now, looting aid is not very shocking. It has been a predictable outcome for a prolonged period of a starving population that has been denied access to water, food, and medical supplies.
People have gone days without getting any kind of food, and the number of trucks sent to the Gaza Strip falls short of meeting the needs of the population.
According to statistics shared by the United Nations, Gaza needs at least 500-600 aid trucks on a daily basis carrying goods that must be distributed to Palestinians in need over the 400 distribution centres across the territory.
Meanwhile, in a malnutrition ward at Nasser Hospital, mothers watch over their babies lying still and largely silent, too exhausted from severe hunger to cry.
The quiet is common in places treating the most acutely malnourished, doctors said, a sign of their bodies shutting down.
Dr Ahmed al-Farra, Head of the paediatric and maternity department, voiced the need for supplies.
“We need milk for babies. We need medical supplies. We need some food, special food for [the] nutritional department. We need everything for the hospitals.”
Dr Ahmed al-Farra
Al-Farra highlighted the case of Wateen Abu Amounah, born healthy three months ago and now weighing 100g (3.5oz) less than she weighed at birth.
“There is total loss of muscles. It’s only skin on top of bones, which is an indication that the child has entered a severe malnutrition phase. Even the face of the child, she has lost fat tissue from her cheeks.”
Dr Ahmed al-Farra
Hamas Highlights “Catastrophic Famine” In Gaza
Hamas called the situation in Gaza a “catastrophic famine” as land crossings continue to be blocked by Israel despite international calls for the most effective routes to be reopened.
In a statement, the Palestinian group said that Israel has turned food into a “weapon of slow killing and aid into a tool of chaos and looting.”
“Most relief trucks are subjected to looting and attacks as part of a systematic policy pursued by the occupation. The sector needs more than 600 aid and fuel trucks daily to meet its minimum needs. What the occupation actually allows into the Gaza Strip represents only a small percentage.”
Hamas
The group called on international organisations to expose Israel’s “starvation engineering” and reiterated that breaking the siege is the only solution to end the spiralling hunger crisis in Gaza.
READ ALSO: Roads Minister Commits to Fair, Efficient Localised Roads Maintenance
