When the hunger in Gaza increases, another major contributor says it will start supporting the UN agency for Palestinians

Resuming financing on Saturday, a major contributor to the U.N. agency supporting Palestinians was one of the main donors, after the suspension of hundreds of millions of dollars by over a dozen nations due to accusations made by Israel against the organization.

After foreign donors opened a maritime route to serve the beleaguered area experiencing widespread hunger after five months of conflict, Sweden reversed course just as a ship carrying tons of humanitarian food was getting ready to depart Cyprus for Gaza.

Nikos Christodoulides, the president of Cyprus, informed reporters late on Saturday that the ship will leave “within the next 24 hours.” The Associated Press was informed by World Central Kitchen creator José Andrés that all required licenses, including those from Israel, had been obtained and that the only reason for the delay in leaving was bad weather.

As the U.N. agency known as UNRWA warns that it might collapse and leave Gaza’s already destitute population of over 2 million people with even less medical and other help, Sweden’s financing decision followed similar ones made by the European Union and Canada.

Johan Forssell, the Swedish minister of development, said, “The humanitarian situation in Gaza is devastating and the needs are acute,” and he added that UNRWA has committed to tighter controls and more openness. Sweden has committed to provide UNRWA $38 million this year, and more is on the way.

Twelve of UNRWA’s hundreds of workers were accused by Israel of taking part in the October 7 Hamas assault on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,200 people and the kidnapping of around 250 more. Nations, notably the US, promptly cut off financing to UNRWA totaling over $450 million, or almost half of the organization’s annual budget. In an effort to regain donor support, the U.N. has opened inquiries and UNRWA has started cooperating with external audits.

Hunger-stricken Gaza residents scurried for food supplies dropped by US and Jordanian military aircraft on the eve of Ramadan. Humanitarian organizations describe this mode of distribution as woefully insufficient in comparison to ground deliveries. However, due to Israeli limitations and security concerns, the number of relief trucks that enter Gaza each day since the conflict has been significantly fewer than the 500 that did so before to October 7.

People ran through the destroyed areas of Gaza City when the assistance that was parachuting down was dropped. One lady sobbed, “I have orphans, I want to feed them!”

Momen Mahra, another inhabitant, said, “The issue of aid is brutal and no one accepts it,” asserting that the majority of supplies delivered by air ends up in the ocean. “We want better methods.”

According to the U.S. military, more than 41,000 “meal equivalents” and 23,000 water bottles were airdropped into northern Gaza, which is the most difficult area in the enclave to reach.

According to the Gaza Health Ministry, two more individuals have perished from starvation, including a 2-month-old baby, bringing the total number of Palestinians who had perished from hunger in the conflict to 25. According to Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra, the toll solely consisted of those who were admitted to hospitals.

According to the ministry, since the start of the conflict, at least 30,878 Palestinians have died. The ministry, which is a component of the administration headed by Hamas, has statistics from prior conflicts that generally agree with those of the United Nations and other experts.

Along with the airdrops, the establishment of the maritime supply lane demonstrated growing discontent with Gaza’s humanitarian predicament and a newfound readiness to circumvent Israeli prohibitions. Along with the United States, the United Arab Emirates, and other participating nations, the EU supports the maritime corridor. The Red Cross and United Nations organizations will also be involved, according to the European Commission.

Speaking on Saturday, President Joe Biden expressed his opinion that Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, is “hurting Israel more than helping Israel” in the way that Israel is waging war on Hamas in Gaza. The U.S. leader, in an interview with MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart, affirmed Israel’s right to pursue Hamas in the wake of the October 7 assault, but he added of Netanyahu that “he must pay more attention to the innocent lives being lost as a consequence of the actions taken.”

As early as this weekend, the ship from Spain’s Open Arms relief organization was scheduled to go on a trial run to evaluate the route. At the port of Larnaca in Cyprus, the ship has been waiting. Israel has expressed support for the marine route but has issued a warning that security inspections would be necessary.

Oscar Camps, the founder of Open Arms, said that it would take two to three days for the ship transporting a barge filled with 200 tons of rice and flour to reach the spot where World Central Kitchen was building a dock to accept it.

Separately, Biden announced plans to construct a makeshift dock in Gaza to facilitate relief delivery, highlighting the need for the United States to avoid Israel, its principal Middle East partner and the country that receives the majority of U.S. military assistance. Israel accuses Hamas of stealing certain humanitarian supplies.

According to US authorities, the pier won’t be functioning for many weeks. Avril Benoit, the executive director of the American branch of the medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders, denounced the American proposal in a statement, calling it a “glaring distraction from the real problem: Israel’s indiscriminate and disproportionate military campaign and punishing siege.”

Air and sea supplies, according to Sigrid Kaag, the U.N.’s top humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, cannot compensate for a lack of land-based supply lines.

Prior to Ramadan, attempts to come to a cease-fire seemed to have stagnated. According to Hamas, the group has departed Cairo and won’t return until next week.

With a six-week cease-fire that would have seen Israel free some Palestinian detainees, Hamas release some of the Israeli hostages it was holding, and access for relief organizations to bring in a significant amount of supplies to Gaza, international mediators had planned to ameliorate some of the immediate crisis.

About one hundred hostages and the bodies of thirty more people who were taken prisoner during the Oct. 7 raid are said to be held by Palestinian terrorists. A week-long ceasefire in November saw the release of several dozen captives.

According to official media in Lebanon, an Israeli attack on a residence in the southern village of Khirbet Selm resulted in five fatalities and at least nine injuries.

For the last five months, there have been almost daily skirmishes between Israeli soldiers and the terrorist Lebanese organization Hezbollah in the border region between Lebanon and Israel.

About 40 civilians have also been murdered in Israeli attacks, which have claimed the lives of 300 individuals overall, the majority of them were combatants with Hezbollah and its allies. At least nine troops and ten civilians have lost their lives on the Israeli side.