There is not enough food in Gaza to sustain life, Oxfam's Humanitarian Response Adviser in the enclave has said.
Speaking to RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Chris McIntosh said Israel’s blockade is causing starvation and malnutrition.
"Malnutrition in children is a severe problem because it can cause developmental issues.
"Unlike adults, they don't have the ability to spring back from a period of undernutrition and this affects brain development and and a host of other health issues that will be with them for the rest of their lives.
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"Now, mind you, this is something that we have been predicting ever since the beginning of the blockade, which was at the beginning of March. So we're now well into five, six months of this," Mr McIntosh said.
Yesterday, more than 100 foreign aid groups said in a letter that new Israeli legislation regulating aid groups has increasingly been used to deny their requests to bring supplies into Gaza.
The letter accused Israel of "weaponising aid" as people starve in Gaza and using it as a tool to entrench control.
"Israeli authorities have rejected requests from dozens of NGOs to bring in lifesaving goods, citing that these organisations are 'not authorised to deliver aid'," the joint statement reads.
The organisations said new Israeli aid registration measures were "designed to control independent organisations, silence advocacy, and censor humanitarian reporting".
The letter added that the rules violate European data privacy regulations, noting that in some cases, aid groups have been given only seven days to comply.
Sight of children searching bins for food is common
Chris McIntosh, meanwhile, said the sight of children searching for food in bins is common and seeing people eating food is rare.
"To smell food being cooked is also a total novelty these days," Mr McIntosh added.
He said the amount of trucks allowed into Gaza is "miniscule" compared to what the needs are.
He described airdrops of humanitarian aid as an "embarrassing stunt" and said they are not a dignified way to deliver aid.
Mr McIntosh said Israel's claim that aid trucks waiting to enter Gaza do not meet security standards as false.
"The delays and denials are systemic and policy driven and they have nothing to do with NGOs not meeting basic requirements or not following security rules," he said.
Mr McIntosh said the starvation in Gaza will stop when unfettered access to the enclave is granted.
In their letter, the aid groups stressed that most of them have not been able to deliver "a single truck" of life-saving assistance since Israel implemented a blockade in March.
Bushra Khalidi, an aid official with Oxfam in Gaza, said Oxfam has over $2.5 million worth of goods that have been rejected from entering Gaza by Israel, "especially WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) items as well as food".
Aid groups' "ability to operate may come at the cost of their independence and ability to speak out," she added.
A vast majority of aid is not reaching civilians in Gaza, where tens of thousands have been killed in Israeli attacks, most of the population has been displaced and famine looms.
UN agencies and a small number of aid groups have resumed delivering assistance, but say the number of trucks allowed in remains far from sufficient.
Additional reporting PA
