GENEVA, 2nd May, 2025 (WAM) -- Olga Cherevko, Spokesperson for UN humanitarian agency OCHA, stated that after nearly 18 months of bloodshed, Gaza was in ruins.
“Exactly two months earlier, all entry points had been sealed by the Israeli authorities for the entry of cargo triggering the countdown to the worst-case scenario – supplies becoming depleted while the war raged on. Food stocks had mostly run out, water access was becoming impossible, and hospitals report running out of blood units, as mass casualties continued to arrive. Gaza was inching closer to running on empty as fuel was being rationed to maintain only the most critical operations,” said Olga Cherevko in a press briefing in Geneva today.
“Community kitchens had begun to shut down, with those still running only able to offer very modest meals, as more people were going hungry. Children across Gaza, deprived of their childhood for many months, were rummaging through the massive mountains of trash in search of material to burn for cooking. In an effort to survive, stations had been set up across Gaza that burned plastic and other toxic waste to produce fuel, as clouds of black smoke rose to Gaza's skies, emanating dangerous fumes, endangering people's lives and devastating the environment.”
The international community had a choice – to keep scrolling through the grisly images of Gaza being suffocated and starved or muster the courage and the moral fibre to make decisions that would break this merciless blockade. The people in Gaza had no such choice, she added.
Crossings had to reopen, and OCHA stood ready to continue bringing in supplies as soon as that was done, she emphasised.