France has sent close to 400 tonnes of food supplements for undernourished Gazan babies that is expected to arrive in Egypt in the next 10 days, the French government has said.
The shipment of 21 containers carried by CMA CGM container ship Tokyo has departed from Le Havre port and is expected to be distributed on the ground by the World Food Programme (WFP).
It consists of more than 20,000 doses of a liquid supplement named Plumpy'Doz which is manufactured in northern France to prevent malnutrition for children aged between six months and two years.
That is enough to last six months at the rate of one dose a day for 42,000 children, the French government said, and brings to 1,700 tonnes the total amount of food aid sent by France to Gaza since Israel's offensive against the enclave started in October 2023.
“This in-kind aid operation initiated by the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs is exceptional, both in its scale and in the state/business/UN partnership that made it possible,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
“France reiterates that it is urgent for Israel to remove all obstacles so that the United Nations and NGOs can continue to deliver humanitarian aid independently and impartially throughout the Gaza Strip, in accordance with international humanitarian law and United Nations Security Council resolution 2803,” it added.
The mixture was described by a Nutriset employee in a Foreign Ministry video as a mixture of “peanut butter enriched with oil, sugar, milk powder, vitamins and minerals.”
French authorities have also evacuated 29 Gazan children to France for medical treatment since the start of the war. It has also treated another 120 people on the Dixmude warship.
Malnutrition and harsh winter conditions persist in Gaza despite a ceasefire brokered by the US in October. Donors and NGOs have said they struggle to bring aid into Gaza as Israel often rejects donations because it says they can be used both for military and civilian use.
On Monday – which marks 100 days since the ceasefire – the WFP said that it had significantly expanded its operations in Gaza. It now delivers a full ration of two wheat flour bags and two food boxes to over a million people in Gaza each month.
“Sustained access through all crossings, the flow of humanitarian and commercial goods and the continuation of the ceasefire are essential to prevent Gaza from sliding back into catastrophic hunger,” WFP said in a statement.
It warned that almost all families in Gaza are dependent on food aid. Commercial lorries also enter the strip but goods remain unaffordable for most people.
