UN agency chiefs say Gaza needs more aid to arrive faster, warning of famine and disease

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The heads of three major U.N. agencies are warning that Gaza urgently needs more aid or its desperate population will suffer widespread famine and disease. That call came Monday (Jan. 15, 2024) as authorities in the enclave reported that the death toll in the Israel-Hamas war had surpassed 24,000. While the U.N. agency chiefs did not directly point a finger at Israel, they said aid delivery is hobbled by the opening of too few border crossings, a slow vetting process for trucks and goods going into Gaza, and continuing fighting. Israel plays a deciding factor in all of those things. Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza was sparked by the militant group’s Oct. 7 attack. The conflict has triggered a humanitarian catastrophe that has displaced most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population.