The executive director of the U.N. World Food Programme is urging that more aid be allowed into Gaza as Israel continues its renewed offensive on the territory.
“Right now, we have 500,000 people inside of Gaza that are extremely food insecure, and could be on the verge of famine if we don’t help bring them back from that,” Cindy McCain told CBS’ Margaret Brennan on Sunday on “Face the Nation.”
“We need to get in, and we need to get in at scale, not just a few dribble of the trucks right now, as I said, it’s a drop in the bucket,” she said.
Israel launched an 11-week block on aid to Gaza after the collapse of negotiations to extend an early 2025 ceasefire. But even though food is now coming back in, McCain told Brennan that it isn’t enough. 600 aid trucks a day entered Gaza during the ceasefire. Now, that number is at around 100 trucks a day, she said.
And Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s revived military offensive into Gaza to root out Hamas only further complicates matters, while threatening to deteriorate a worsening humanitarian situation on the ground.
“The roads that are the better roads, the ones that can get us further along, aren’t open at all,” McCain said. “It’s complicated right now and again, I will tell anybody who will listen, we need to get in and get in at scale and be allowed to feed these people before further catastrophe occurs.”
McCain disputed the notion that Hamas is behind a recent spate of lootings of aid trucks, chalking that up to “poor souls” that “are really, really, really desperate.”
McCain, the widow of former Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), said she has not seen details of a purported U.S.-Israeli plan that would replace the U.N. with hubs run by American companies and security contractors. Israel has pushed to assert more control over aid distribution in Gaza. But McCain maintained that her organization is best placed to lead operations.
“I’ve not seen a plan from anybody,” McCain told Brennan. “We continue to operate, doing what we do best, and we are the largest and the best at what we do, I might add.”
She added: “We really don’t know what’s coming around the bend. We will continue to operate. We will work with anybody, if it will feed people.”
