UN Food security has improved in Gaza but remains fragile

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced on Thursday that food security and child nutrition have improved across the Gaza Strip, but remain fragile because only one aid crossing is still open.

The Rome-based agency noted an “improvement in food security and child nutrition across the Gaza Strip,” but warned that “this progress, achieved through expanded access to humanitarian assistance related to food, nutrition, agriculture, and health, remains fragile.”

It added that there has been a “significant” increase in food assistance since the ceasefire agreement in October 2015.

Food parcels were delivered to approximately 1.5 million people in May, while some 700,000 people received cash assistance, and 60 percent of children under five received nutritional support.

Tom Fletcher, the UN aid chief, called last month for all crossings into the Gaza Strip to be opened and for an immediate lifting of Israeli restrictions on the entry of goods, such as medical equipment and fuel.