Gaza: Aid deliveries via floating terminal welcomed, but land ‘more important’
OCHA warns that maritime corridors cannot replace vital land routes, which are the fastest and most effective way to deliver humanitarian aid in the besieged enclave, where more than two million Palestinians are in dire need. food, shelter and other assistance.
“Any and all aid entering Gaza is welcome by any route,” spokesman Jens Laerke told reporters in Geneva. “However, it is an addition and does not take away from the fact that the border crossing will be more important.”
Additional aid roadmap
The U.S. military’s Central Command announced that the trucks began rolling in around 9 a.m. local time on Friday and that no soldiers went ashore.
The floating dock was moored to a beach in Gaza the previous day. With most border crossings to the region closed or unsafe, it would provide an additional route to deliver aid to the besieged area.
The United Nations welcomes all efforts to ensure aid reaches Gaza, speak United Nations deputy spokesman Farhan Haq, speaking in New York later on Friday.
“We are therefore grateful to the United States, as well as Cyprus, with the support of other Member States, for maintaining the maritime corridor as an additional route for aid to Gaza,” he said. .
He explained that “after months of discussions with all relevant agencies, the United Nations has agreed to assist in receiving and arranging the dispatch of aid from the floating dock to Gaza, as long as neutrality is respected.” and independence of humanitarian activities”.
Open all passages
Mr. Laerke said United Nations agencies are finalizing plans to be ready to handle aid once the floating dock is operating normally, while also keeping in mind the need to ensure the safety of personnel.
“Community awareness and acceptance is paramount to ensuring the safety and security of this activity,” he emphasized.
“However, getting aid to those in need in and across Gaza cannot and should not depend on a floating dock far from where the need is most urgent,” he said.
“Road routes are the most viable, effective and efficient method of delivering aid, which is why we need to open all crossings.”
The Rafah shift continues
Updating the situation in Rafah, OCHA reported that nearly 640,000 people have been displaced from the area since the Israeli army’s attack began. Many have fled to the crowded Deir al Balah province in central Gaza, where living conditions are harsh.
The ongoing influx of displaced people there and in Khan Younis, continues to strain an already strained humanitarian response.
OCHA said groups working to feed people in Gaza reported that only five bakeries remained open across the region – four in Gaza City and one in Deir al Balah. Nearly a dozen others have been grounded due to lack of fuel and supplies, amid ongoing conflict.
As a result, aid partners were forced to conduct small-scale distribution with limited inventories, provide reduced rations, and prioritize Khan Younis and Deir al Balah.
A child walks through rubble in Rafah.
Water and sanitation crisis
The ongoing displacement from Rafah to Khan Younis has exacerbated the water and sanitation crisis, with sewage and solid waste overflowing across roads, displacement camps and the ruins of the house is destroyed – causing catastrophic health impacts.
“Our colleagues who are working to ensure that people in Gaza have adequate shelter say there are no remaining warehouses of shelter materials inside Gaza,” OCHA said.
Lack of fuel
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) emphasizes that the biggest problem today is fuel.
Spokesperson Tarik Jašarević reported that only 13 of 36 hospitals in Gaza are currently partially operational, stressing that fuel is needed to generate electricity and run generators.
He said health partners need between 1.4 million and 1.8 million liters monthly to keep hospitals running, but only 159,000 liters have been brought into Gaza since the border closure, “and that is clearly not enough.”
