Gaza’s children and young people are becoming increasingly desperate for food supplies, according to the UN’s children’s relief organisation, UNICEF.

On Tuesday, UNICEF’s spokesman, James Elder, said in the Gaza Strip that the Children were dreaming of a slice of cucumber or begging for a tomato.

Young people who spoke to the organisation said they hoped to die in the next attack so that the nightmare of their lives would end, he said.

The hospitals were full of completely emaciated children, and the few functioning incubators were full of premature babies whose lives were hanging by a thread, he added.

The hunger crisis in the Gaza Strip is “man-made,” Mr Elder said.

Hundreds of Lorries with food were waiting at the borders, but were not allowed to enter. 

“Life-saving aid is being obstructed, dignity is being denied,” he said.

Mr Elder appealed to the Israeli authorities to open border crossings in the north, noting that this could end the hunger crisis within a few days.

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) said Israel was currently refusing entry authorisation to all its convoys.

A representative of the Israeli military authority coordinating emergency aid said last week in Geneva that aid convoys are unrestricted.

The authority added that the problem was in the Gaza Strip because the actors there were not able to bring material to the people.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in Geneva that it was Israel’s duty as a party to the conflict to ensure that food for the civilian population could be distributed without restriction.

(dpa/NAN)