Famine has been mostly averted in Gaza as a surge of aid enters the territory during a fragile ceasefire, the United Nations humanitarian chief said Sunday. But he warned the threat could return quickly if the truce collapses. Tom Fletcher made the assessment after a two-day visit to Gaza, where hundreds of trucks carrying humanitarian aid have arrived each day since the ceasefire began on Jan. 19. "Those starvation levels are down from where they were before the ceasefire," Fletcher said in Cairo, the AP reports.
Concerns are growing over whether the ceasefire can be extended, and talks are meant to begin on its more difficult second phase. The six-week first phase is halfway through. As part of the agreement, Israel said it would allow 600 aid trucks into Gaza each day, a major increase after months of aid officials expressing frustration about delays and insecurity hampering both the entry and distribution of food, medicines, and other badly needed items. The UN humanitarian office has said more than 12,600 aid trucks have entered Gaza since the ceasefire took effect.
Fletcher urged both Hamas, which quickly reasserted its control of the territory in the hours after the ceasefire took effect, and Israel to stick to the deal that has "saved so many lives," saying, "The conditions are still terrible, and people are still hungry." The internationally recognized mortality threshold for famine is two or more deaths a day per 10,000 people, per the AP. For months before the current ceasefire, food security monitors, UN officials, and others had been warning of possible famine in parts of devastated Gaza, especially the north, which had been largely isolated since early in the 16-month war.
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