Media Wire

UN warns of humanitarian crisis in northern Gaza

Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson for United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, has cautioned that Israeli authorities have significantly limited humanitarian access in Gaza, allowing it only on an exceptional basis to Jabalia, Beit Lahiya, and Beit Hanoon over the past month.

“This has left us unable to confirm the conditions of people inside and we worry, obviously, for their safety,” he said.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has raised alarm about the dwindling supplies, Dujarric noted, adding that “the already limited humanitarian supplies entering Gaza have decreased even further since October”.

The World Food Programme has recently warned that the lack of food and other vital humanitarian supplies entering the Gaza Strip could soon escalate into famine unless immediate action is taken.

The UN agency said it reached only 42 percent of the 1.1 million people targeted for food assistance in October due to a lack of supplies and access.

“North Gaza remains under siege since early October, with humanitarian agencies unable to reach people in need. Urgent international effort is required to allow the delivery of critical assistance and grant humanitarian agencies access to the area,” it added.

The Israeli army has continued a deadly onslaught in northern Gaza since early October to reportedly prevent the Palestinian resistance group Hamas from regrouping amid a siege on the area. Palestinians, however, accuse Israel of seeking to occupy the area and forcibly displace its residents.

More than 1,800 people have been killed and 4,000 wounded in northern Gaza since the offensive began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

The aggression is the latest episode in a brutal Israeli war on Gaza since an attack by Hamas in October last year, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

More than 43,300 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 102,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.

The Israeli assault has displaced almost the territory’s entire population 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.

IFP Media Wire

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