Cindy McCain Warns ‘Millions Could Starve’ Amid Record WFP Funding Gap

Cindy McCain, Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), is sounding the alarm after returning from a rare, high-level visit to the Gaza Strip, where she says she witnessed “starving children and desperate parents” in what experts warn could become the world’s worst famine in decades. H2: Firsthand look at a deepening humanitarian disaster McCain spent two days moving between Rafah in southern Gaza and WFP distribution points, speaking with families who told her they had gone days without reliable access to bread or clean water. “You can see malnutrition in the children’s eyes,” she told PBS NewsHour, adding that the enclave’s food system has “totally collapsed”. H2: A plea for an immediate surge in food aid In interviews with NPR, the WFP chief called for “a surge, a tsunami” of assistance, insisting that at least 500 truck-loads of food and nutrition supplies must enter Gaza each day to stave off catastrophe. Current entry levels hover below 100 trucks, far short of the 600-truck daily average that flowed before the conflict escalated last year. H3: Logistics bottlenecks • Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) is the only crossing handling significant quantities of commercial cargo, and it faces long inspection delays. • Fuel shortages are crippling bakery operations and WFP trucks alike, leaving aid agencies unable to move commodities from warehouses to shelters. • Security concerns force many convoys to travel only during daylight, limiting distribution windows. H2: Netanyahu pushes back Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly criticized McCain’s statements, accusing her of “misrepresentation” and arguing that Israel already facilitates more aid than United Nations agencies can distribute. In response, McCain reiterated that “the numbers don’t lie,” citing WFP data showing that four out of five Gazans are skipping meals daily. H2: Why Cindy McCain’s voice carries weight • As head of the world’s largest humanitarian food agency, McCain controls a US$9 billion annual budget and has direct channels to donor governments. • She is married to the late U.S. Senator John McCain, giving her exceptional visibility on Capitol Hill at a time when Congress debates supplemental funding for Middle East relief. • Her leadership background in global anti-trafficking and nutrition campaigns positions her as a bipartisan messenger capable of rallying both political and private-sector support. H2: Global implications of a Gaza famine A full-blown famine would likely accelerate regional instability, drive further displacement into Egypt’s Sinai, and add pressure to already strained food markets supplying Lebanon and Jordan. The WFP warns that failure in Gaza could cascade into funding shortfalls for crises in Sudan, Haiti and the Horn of Africa, as donors shift finite resources to the news cycle’s latest emergency. H2: What happens next? 1. Diplomatic shuttle: McCain meets this week with EU commissioners in Brussels to secure additional maritime corridors from Cyprus. 2. U.S. appropriations: Lawmakers are expected to debate a $2 billion emergency food-aid package; McCain will testify via video link. 3. Cross-border pilot: WFP plans an air-bridge from Amman pending security clearances, aiming to airdrop high-energy biscuits to northern Gaza within ten days. Cindy McCain’s warnings echo a stark truth: without immediate, large-scale access, Gaza’s malnutrition crisis could turn fatal for tens of thousands before the end of the year. The world is watching—now it has to act.