Since Oct. 9 – two days after the Hamas attacks – “the government of Israel’s reinforced blockade has included stopping or restricting food, electricity and fuel supplies, as well as commercial goods,” he said.This has affected the entire food supply chain in different ways, Martina said.As examples, he said, severe restrictions on fuel shipments are crippling water supplies and the functioning of desalination plants, with the water supply at only 7% of pre-October levels. Fuel shortages have also crippled the production and delivery of food and electricity, and seriously hampered the ability of bakeries to produce bread, he said.Martina said the collapse of agricultural production in the north is already happening and in the most likely scenario will be complete by May. And as of Feb. 15, over 46% of all crop land in Gaza was assessed to be damaged, he said.The FAO official presented more alarming figures from Israel’s offensive — a high number of animal shelters and sheep and dairy farms destroyed, over one-quarter of water wells destroyed, and 339 hectares of greenhouses destroyed. And he said the war has also heavily impacted the harvest of olives and citrus fruits, a key Palestinian money earner.As for animals, Martina said, many livestock owners report substantial losses, all poultry have likely been slaughtered, and as many as 65% of calves and 70% of beef cattle are assumed to have died.Israel’s deputy U.N. ambassador Brett Miller told the council that while fighting Hamas it is doing “all it can to care for civilians,” and is working constantly to ensure the entry of humanitarian aid from numerous countries and U.N. agencies.Since the Oct. 7 attacks, he said, Israel has facilitated the delivery of 254,000 tons of humanitarian aid including 165,000 tons of food. “There is absolutely no limit – and I repeat there is no limit – to the amount of humanitarian aid that can be sent to the civilian population of Gaza,” he said.Miller countered that 20 bakeries throughout Gaza are producing over 2 million pita breads a day.He accused the U.N. of refusing to deliver aid to northern Gaza, and some U.N. officials of trying to shift the blame to Israel.In recent days, Miller said, 508 trucks have been waiting to cross into Gaza with Israeli approval. “So where is the U.N. and its aid agencies? How can it be that Israel is libelously held responsible for a situation that is clearly the U.N.’s fault?” he asked.U.N. humanitarian coordinator Ramasingham, WFP’s Skau and FAO’s Martina all had a similar response: The first step to eliminating the looming threat of famine is a ceasefire so humanitarian workers can enter Gaza.“If nothing is done, we fear widespread famine in Gaza is almost inevitable,” Ramasingham said, and the Palestinian death toll which has reached almost 30,000 “will have many more victims.” That figure from the Gaza Health Ministry doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants, though the U.N. says the majority are women and children.
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