Israel blocks humanitarian aid to northern Gaza: UN

• “Gaza is also the most dangerous place in the world for the UN and its partners to operate,” says Jens Laerke.

GENEVA

Israel has allowed only four of 66 planned humanitarian aid missions into northern Gaza in the first 20 days of October, with no food aid allowed for 14 days, the UN humanitarian office (OCHA) said.

OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke detailed a serious deterioration in humanitarian access, revealing that Israeli authorities rejected 28 requests and blocked seven more for coordinated aid movements in the Beit Hanoun regions, Jabalia and Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza.

“During the first two weeks of October, 85% of the (attempted aid) movements were denied,” Laerke told Anadolu in a written response, highlighting the increasingly dire situation in northern Gaza.

During a visit on October 19, an OCHA team found extreme overcrowding in northern Gaza, with some displaced people forced to live in latrines due to a severe housing shortage, Laerke said.

Laerke described a particularly challenging incident where a joint team from the UN, an international NGO and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society made nine attempts before finally reaching Kamal Adwan and Al-Sahaba Maternity Hospitals on 12 October, facing multiple rejections and obstacles from Israel. forces

The humanitarian crisis has deepened following Israel’s ground operations in Rafah, with aid deliveries plummeting. “For all points of entry, the daily average of humanitarian trucks in September (54) was only a third of what it was in April (165),” Laerke noted.

The distribution of limited aid faces multiple obstacles, including damaged roads, forced displacement blocking major supply routes, rejected coordination requests, overcrowding and lack of public order.

“Gaza is also the most dangerous place in the world for the UN and its partners to operate,” Laerke stressed, citing the deaths of 300 colleagues and the bombing of warehouses. He added that the roads are damaged and littered with unexploded ordnance.

Despite these difficult conditions, aid workers are continuing their efforts to provide life-saving aid to Palestinians in Gaza whenever possible, although the situation remains severely understaffed and increasingly dangerous for aid workers, Laerke said.

The Israeli military has continued a devastating offensive in the Gaza Strip since the Hamas attack last year, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire.

Since then, more than 42,700 people have died, mostly women and children, and more than 100,300 others have been injured, according to local health authorities.

The Israeli assault on Gaza has displaced almost the entire population of the territory amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.

*Writing by Yasin Gungor

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