UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- The continued conflict with Israel has resulted in serious food shortages and a crippled fishing industry on the Gaza Strip, the U.N. food agency says.
The announcement, made Friday by a spokesperson for United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, comes as the World Food Program struggles to distribute aid to almost a quarter of a million people.
Naval restrictions have succeeding in blocking all boats from fishing off-shore, which has had a crippling effect on the fishing industry," spokeswoman Marie Okabe told reporters at U.N. World Headquarters in New York.
"Furthermore, Gaza's agricultural markets continue to suffer from access restrictions," she said.
Also on the humanitarian front, the U.N. Children's Fund has delivered five water tankers to municipalities in Gaza with damaged water networks, and also stepped up support for vaccination services in the northern West Bank, Okabe added.
Annan said Wednesday that, following an agreement between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas on forming a unity government, the diplomatic quartet on the Middle East, which includes the United Nations, will meet next week to discuss these developments and possible ways to provide humanitarian assistance to the region.
The Quartet on the Middle East -- which also includes the European Union, the Russian Federation and the United States -- are sponsoring the so-called Road-Map for a two-state solution, with Israel and Palestine living side-by-side in peace.
International aid has seen a sharp decline since the Hamas-led Palestinian government was voted in, and Annan describes the situation as "very desperate and serious."
