US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated during the three-hour reporting window ending at 4:45 a.m. UTC on Dec. 20 that adequate aid cannot be delivered to Gaza due to looting risks despite the ceasefire, responding to questions about children freezing from blocked shelter materials including tents and mobile homes. He called UNRWA a "corrupted organization that’s unsalvageable. Period.," according to a clip shared by journalist Nadia Bilbassy. Rubio's claim conflicts with a World Food Programme representative who stated yesterday that the ceasefire has eliminated large-scale looting that occurred through September when Israel controlled aid access. UNRWA reported shelter assistance for 1.3 million displaced Palestinians stockpiled at the border but blocked by Israel, as noted in the same interview coverage by Drop Site News. A World Food Programme update from Gaza City indicated food access has improved two months into the ceasefire, with the agency reaching more than 1 million people, nutrition services for over 300,000, and fortified snacks to 190,000 children in temporary learning spaces. Commercial and aid food flows have increased, raising average consumption to two meals a day from one during the summer siege, according to Palestine Representative Antoine Renard. Renard added that living conditions remain very dire, with 90 percent of families cooking using firewood or trash and sheltering in wadis. An IPC famine assessment is due today, expected to reflect improved food access alongside ongoing humanitarian challenges, per the World Food Programme statement shared by Drop Site News.
