"Right now, parents in Gaza do not know whether they can feed their children today and whether they will even survive to see tomorrow. The suffering just meters away is unfathomable standing on this side of the border," said Cindy McCain, Executive Director of WFP, as she returned from the Rafah border crossing in Egypt.

“Today, I'm making an urgent plea for the millions of people whose lives are being torn apart by this crisis,” she added.

McCain is concluding a two-day visit to Egypt, during which she met with Egypt's President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, senior government officials, and visited the Egyptian Red Crescent's humanitarian staging hub in Al Arish. She also inspected the rapid expansion of logistical operations and monitoring systems at the Rafah border crossing, which are crucial for providing vital assistance to people within Gaza. 

"We appreciate all efforts to facilitate a steady flow of humanitarian supplies through its border with Gaza, and the work of the Egyptian Red Crescent is remarkable. We need to continue to work together to get safe and sustained access to Gaza at a scale that aligns with the catastrophic conditions facing families there,” McCain noted.

During her visit, McCain explored opportunities for WFP to leverage its extensive expertise in logistics during emergencies to further strengthen collaboration with partners such as the Egyptian Red Crescent to scale up the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza. She applauded the efforts of their volunteers who have worked tirelessly to get lifesaving assistance to their neighbors.

“The crisis in Gaza is not just a local tragedy, it's a stark reminder that our global food crisis is worsening. Not only does this crisis threaten regional peace and stability, it undermines our collective efforts to combat hunger worldwide,” McCain noted.

Meanwhile, the average Palestinian in Gaza is living on two pieces of bread made from flour the United Nations had stockpiled in the region, yet the main refrain now being heard in the street is “Water, water,” the Gaza director for the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees said on Friday.

Thomas White, who said he traveled “the length and breadth of Gaza in the last few weeks,” described the place as a “scene of death and destruction.” No place is safe now, he said, and people fear for their lives, their future and their ability to feed their families.

The Palestinian refugee agency, known as UNRWA, is supporting about 89 bakeries across Gaza, aiming to get bread to 1.7 million people, White told diplomats from the U.N.’s 193 member nations in a video briefing from Gaza.

U.N. deputy Mideast coordinator Lynn Hastings, who is also the humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories, said only one of three water supply lines from Israel is operational.

“Many people are relying on brackish or saline ground water, if at all,” she said.