OTTAWA, April 26 — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has urged Israel to allow the World Food Programme to work in Gaza, saying food must not be used as a 'political tool', hours after the United Nations (UN) agency ran out of stocks due to a sustained Israeli blockade on supplies.
On Friday, the WFP said it had delivered its last remaining supplies to kitchens providing hot meals in Gaza and that the facilities were expected to run out of food in the coming days.
"The UN World Food Programme just announced that its food stocks in Gaza have run out because of the Israeli Government's blockade — food cannot be used as a political tool," he said on X (formerly Twitter).
The UN agency said no humanitarian or commercial supplies had entered Gaza for more than seven weeks because all main border crossing points were closed, the longest closure the Gaza Strip had ever faced.
"Palestinian civilians must not bear the consequences of Hamas' terrorist crimes. The World Food Programme must be allowed to resume its lifesaving work," Carney said.
Israel has previously denied that Gaza is facing a hunger crisis. The military accuses the Hamas militants who run Gaza of exploiting aid, which Hamas denies, and says it must keep all supplies out to prevent the fighters from getting them.
The Gaza government media office on Friday said that famine was becoming a reality in the enclave of 2.3 million people.
Since a January ceasefire collapsed on March 18, Israeli attacks have killed more than 1,900 Palestinians, many of them civilians, according to health authorities in Gaza, and hundreds of thousands have been displaced as Israel seized what it calls a buffer zone.
An attack on Israel by Hamas in October 2023 killed 1,200 people, and 251 hostages were taken to Gaza. Since then, more than 51,300 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive in Gaza, according to health officials.
"We will continue to work with our allies towards a permanent ceasefire and the immediate return of all hostages," Carney added.
On Friday, United States President Donald Trump said that he pushed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to allow food and medicine into the Gaza Strip.
Canadians will vote to elect a new government on Monday, and polls show Carney's Liberals have a slim lead over the Conservatives.
— Reuters
