Gaza: 'Action cannot come quick enough'

Christian Aid message on Houses of Parliament

Source: Christian Aid

Responding to reports of the new UN security council resolution from the United States, calling for an "immediate ceasefire" and hostage deal in Gaza, Jennifer Larbie, Christian Aid Head of UK Advocacy and Campaigns, said:

"More than 31,000 Palestinian civilians have been killed and many more are living on the brink of famine. Action cannot come quick enough. Only with a permanent ceasefire can the international community deliver aid on the scale required to tackle one of the world's worst humanitarian emergencies.

"The UK Government must make clear it will support a ceasefire resolution and commit to take all necessary steps in support of a lasting peace."

Earlier Christian Aid reports that food prices in Gaza are skyrocketing. The UK charity, which is working with farmers in northern Gaza to supply hot meals to thousands of families, said that - where available - onions on sale in the south are now 50 times their pre-war price, lemons 35 times and sugar more than 26 times at around £17 per kilogram.

Leafy vegetables such as spinach, molokhiya (jute leaves) chard, and khubbazah (a type of mallow) cost 25 times more than they did before October 7, with a head of cabbage selling for about £4.30.

The figures, which were sourced from a Christian Aid employee's family trapped in Rafah, also reveal the cost of oil needed to cook the food - approximately £13 a litre - and other essentials including a packet of nappies which sells for just shy of £40.

"There is little doubt that starvation is being used as a weapon of war," said William Bell, Christian Aid's Head of Middle East Policy and Advocacy.

"Due to a lack of humanitarian access, there is not enough available food for people to survive, let alone have a healthy diet. As a consequence, children in Gaza are dying of malnutrition and disease while the world turns a blind eye."

The family members who reported the figures after visiting Rafah's Al Awda and Al Nijma markets last week, said a 25kg bag of flour costs in the region of £15.

The Christian Aid consultant spoke to a friend trapped in Gaza City during the same period, who reported that flour is so scarce there that a 25kg bag is on sale for up to £324.

Christian Aid's William Bell added: "With desperate families reportedly eating grass to survive, this is suffering on a scale you can't imagine. Our local partners in Gaza are responding as best they can, under intense pressure and at great personal risk, but essential supplies are running perilously low.

"Until we can respond at scale, many more men, women and children will starve and continue to die. How many deaths is too many? The UK Government needs to call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire and stop arming Israel."