Gaza: UN Anti-Racism Committee Decries Halt To Food Aid, Urges Immediate Humanitarian Access
GENEVA (9 May 2025) - With food aid supplies now completely exhausted in Gaza and border crossings still sealed, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) today issued an urgent call for immediate humanitarian access and a lasting ceasefire, warning of catastrophic consequences for the civilian population.
The Committee, currently convening in Geneva for its latest session, which ends today, issued its statement hours after the World Central Kitchen announced it was forced to shut down its remaining soup kitchens across Gaza due to a lack of food.
The World Food Programme previously raised the alarm of the total collapse of food aid operations in the besieged enclave. In late April, the UN food agency announced that all of its food reserves in Gaza had been depleted, and ongoing restrictions at key border crossings had halted the entry of additional supplies.
The food exhaustion in Gaza, combined with the widespread destruction or serious damage to water and electricity infrastructure, are 'placing the civilian population—especially vulnerable groups such as children, women, the elderly, and persons with disabilities—at imminent risk of famine, disease, and death,' the Committee said.
The Committee also raised grave alarm at the intensification of Israeli military operations across the Gaza Strip since early March, citing indiscriminate bombardments and expanded ground incursions, 'which have dramatically worsened the humanitarian crisis and severely endangered the civilian population.'
Invoking its early warning and urgent action procedures, the Committee recalled its 2024 decision, which raised serious concerns regarding Israel's obligations under international law to prevent war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.
It also drew attention to the broader deterioration of conditions across the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and the West Bank, where patterns of mass displacement and settler violence are increasingly mirroring those in Gaza.
The Committee urged the State of Israel to 'lift all barriers to humanitarian access, allow the immediate and unimpeded entry of humanitarian aid, and cease all actions obstructing the provision of essential services to the civilian population in Gaza.'
Furthermore, it called on all States parties to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination to fulfil their international obligations by taking immediate and appropriate measures to prevent further escalation of hostility and to ensure the protection of civilians.
All States have to 'cooperate to bring an end to the violations that are taking place and to prevent war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, including by ceasing any military assistance,' the Committee further urged.
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