Calls The Human Settlement Situation In Gaza Very Bad, New Zealand Adds Aid Funds

JAKARTA - New Zealand announced an additional USD 5 million (IDR 82 billion) for the World Food Program and UNICEF as humanitarian assistance for Gaza.

"The humanitarian situation in Gaza is very bad," Foreign Minister Winston Peters said Monday on X, as reported by ANTARA, Tuesday, June 18.

"New Zealand will provide an additional 5 million to the World Food Program and UNICEF for food, sanitation and health emergency assistance. This brings New Zealand's total humanitarian assistance to those affected by the Israeli-Hamas conflict to 22 million dollars (360.8 billion)," he added.

In addition to killing more than 37,300 Palestinians, Israel's brutal eight-month attack and the implementation of a blockade in Gaza have plunged the region into a humanitarian crisis, with international aid agencies reporting widespread hunger and hundreds of thousands of people on the verge of starvation.

Israel is also accused of committing genocide in the International Court, whose latest decision ordered Israel to immediately stop its operations in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians sought refuge from war before it was invaded on May 6.