UN calls Israeli claims of sufficient food in Gaza 'ridiculous'

The UN on Tuesday dismissed Israeli claims that there is enough food in the Gaza Strip, calling the assertion "ridiculous" as humanitarian supplies run dangerously low.

"As far as the UN (is) concerned, that's ridiculous. I mean, we are at the tail end of our supplies, of the UN, that came in through the humanitarian route," spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said at a news conference.

Dujarric emphasized the severity of the situation, stressing that the World Food Program (WFP) is struggling to maintain its operations.

"You know, WFP doesn't close its bakeries for fun," he said.

Dujarric refuted a question on COGAT's (Israeli military's Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories) claims that more than 25,200 aid trucks have entered Gaza during the six-week ceasefire and accusations of Hamas taking the supplies.

"The UN has kept a chain of custody, and a very good chain of custody on all the aid, on all the aid it's delivered," he asserted.

He pointed to improvements during the ceasefire and said: "We saw humanitarian aid flood Gaza. We saw markets come back to life. We saw prices going down. We saw hostages released. We saw Palestinian detainees released. We need to go back to that," he said.

Israel began a surprise aerial campaign on Gaza on March 18 and has killed since more than 1,000 victims and injured over 2,000, shattering a January ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement between Israel and the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas.

More than 50,300 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in Israel's military onslaught since October 2023, most of them women and children.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.