UNRWA chief says hunger in Gaza is "man-made"

[March 18, 2024]  CAIRO (Reuters) -The head of the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency said on Monday the hunger in the Gaza Strip is "man-made".

"We are engaged in a race against the clock to try to reverse the impact of the spreading hunger and the looming famine in the Gaza Strip," UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said during a press conference in Cairo with Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Shoukry.

A child looks on as Palestinians wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen amid shortages of food supplies, as the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas continues, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, February 5, 2024. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/File Photo

The crisis can be resolved and reversed through proper political will and Gaza can be "flooded" with food through the crossings, he added.

(Reporting by Sarah El Safty, Nayera Abdallah and Clauda Tanios; Editing by Toby Chopra)

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