The Gaza Strip is dangerously short of basic foodstuffs and is facing a looming humanitarian crisis as a result of the continued closure of the main trade crossing with Israel, the United Nations warned.
As the US ambassador to Israel hosted talks aimed at resolving an increasingly bitter dispute over the border crossings, the Gaza director of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), said his organisation had run out of food to distribute to the most impoverished families.
‘Every day is taking us closer to a humanitarian crisis,’ John Ging told reporters.
‘Flour and wheat are not the only products in short supply. There is a shortage of sugar, oil and many of the other basic commodities.
‘If the borders remain closed then everything will begin to become a crisis in itself.’
Israel has closed the Karni crossing for much of the year, citing security concerns. Negotiations about opening an alternative crossing have so far stalled.
In a bid to resolve the dispute, the US ambassador to Israel Richard Jones hosted talks at his residence Sunday involving Israeli, Palestinian, European and Egyptian officials.
Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erakat, who attended the meeting, said that it had not resulted in any breakthrough but all sides had agreed to further sessions.
‘We discussed the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza which has come about because of the Israeli siege,’ Erakat told AFP after the meeting in a reflection of the bitterness between the two sides.
There was no comment from the Israelis whose delegation was led by the senior defence ministry official Amos Gilad.
Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas had earlier told reporters that he wanted to see rapid progress on the issue.
‘We should find solutions, serious solutions, to ensure the continuous opening of the passages,’ he said.
Ging said it was essential that both sides come to an agreement as soon as possible.
‘I am calling on everybody who can assist to solve the situation where the borders are closed and the result is that people here in Gaza do not have enough bread, the very basics that are needed to sustain our lives,’ he said.
‘We have thousands of tonnes of food waiting at Karni crossing and we have used the reserves that we have here. They have already been distributed.’
Gilad earlier told Israeli radio that Karni was shut for security reasons but Israel was prepared to open a terminal known as Kerem Shalom which borders Israel, Gaza and Egypt ‘in order to avoid a humanitarian crisis’.
The Palestinian Authority, in contrast, wants Israel to open the Sufa crossing in the south of the territory.
With wheat and flour now scarce on the ground, many bakeries were closed in Gaza while long queues could be seen forming outside others.