ROME

The World Food Program must have “security guarantees” to bring food supplies into Gaza to prevent the famine that threatens more than 2 million people in the enclave, its executive director said Friday.

“The WFP has food supplies at the border and will be able to scale up to feed 2.2 million people across Gaza,” Cindy McCain said on X. “But we must have security guarantees and sustained access to deliver safely.”

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 Hamas attack. The ensuing Israeli attack had killed at least 28,663 and caused mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Less than 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85% of the territory's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

On Thursday, the WFP warned in a statement that as the risk of famine grows and more people are exposed to deadly disease outbreaks, “a fundamental step change in the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza is urgently needed.”

The heads of the WFP, UNICEF and the World Health Organization said that getting enough supplies into and across Gaza now depends on the opening of new entry routes; more trucks being allowed through border checks each day; fewer restrictions on the movement of humanitarian workers; and guarantees of safety for people accessing and distributing aid.

The WFP said that humanitarian action is severely limited by the closure of all but two border crossings in the south and a multi-layered vetting process for trucks going into Gaza.

In addition, once the trucks are inside, efforts to set up service points for people in need are hampered “by bombardments and constantly shifting battle fronts,” which endanger the lives of Gaza’s civilians and those of humanitarian personnel striving to help them.

“People in Gaza risk dying of hunger just miles from trucks filled with food,” said McCain, according to Thursday’s statement. “Every hour lost puts countless lives at risk. We can keep famine at bay but only if we can deliver sufficient supplies and have safe access to everyone in need, wherever they are.”