Foods stocks in Gaza have run out, says UN agency

The World Food Program says its food stocks in the Gaza Strip have run out under Israel’s nearly 8-week-old blockade, ending a main source of sustenance for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the territory.

- STAFF REPORTER

The WFP said in a statement that it delivered the last of its stocks to charity kitchens that it supports around Gaza. It said those kitchens are expected to run out of food in the coming days.

Some 80 per cent of Gaza‘s population of more than 2 million relies primarily on charity kitchens for food, because other sources have shut down under Israel’s blockade, according to the UN.

The WFP has been supporting 47 kitchens that distribute 644,000 hot meals a day, WFP spokesperson Abeer Etefa told AP. It was not immediately clear how many kitchens would still be operating in Gaza if those shut down. But Mr Etefa said the WFP-backed kitchens are the major ones in Gaza.

Canadian prime minister Mark Carney urged Israel to allow the World Food Programme to work in Gaza, saying food must not be used as a “political tool”.