in one parcel on X, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) confirmed that food distribution had been suspended because of lack of supplies and that ongoing hostilities made it too dangerous for relief teams to work.
“The situation in Rafah has deteriorated significantly since the initial evacuation order was issued there on May 6,” UNRWA spokeswoman Louise Wateridge told UN News on Wednesday. “As this military operation expanded further into Rafah, this had serious consequences, has severely limited our capacity and ability to deliver humanitarian aid more broadly, to provide services and in this case, food distribution.”
Vacuum support
“Now we no longer have access to food distribution centers in this area due to ongoing military operations there is no safety and in addition, we do not receive unobstructed access to aid through the crossing points.”
Ms. Wateridge emphasized that “we have a lot of people on the ground ready to provide aid and provide services, but there is no cross-border access to any supplies and no access to hubs.” our distribution, We simply cannot distribute food.”
Those comments echo an update for Security Council by Tor Wennesland, United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, on Monday.
“I am deeply concerned that the current trajectory – including the possibility of a larger-scale operation – will further undermine efforts to increase humanitarian imports and distribution,” he said. safe them for desperate people.”
While welcoming the opening of the Erez West/Zikim border crossing in northern Gaza, Mr. Wennesland emphasized that “More aid is needed to meet the enormous scale of need…There is no substitute for fully operationalizing and enhancing existing roads.”
Mr Wennesland added: “Saving lives and addressing essential needs in Rafah and Gaza more widely must remain our immediate priorities and I reiterate the Secretary-General’s call for a humanitarian ceasefire”.
The UN official also highlighted the risks of “wider spillovers” in the region from the conflict as long as it remains unresolved, while on Wednesday, Ireland, Spain and Norway jointly declared that they intended to recognize a Palestinian state.
The Irish government said the diplomatic move to recognize Palestine, “takes effect from 28 May”, follows months of consultation “with like-minded countries across Europe and the Middle East”.
Life aid is at stake
As of May 18, OCHA reported that only 10 bakeries were operating out of a total of 16 supported by the UN agency’s partners. “Expect these to run out of stock and fuel within days if additional supplies are not received,” Ms Wosornu said. The remaining six bakeries – all in southern Gaza – have closed “due to fuel shortages or ongoing hostilities”.
According to UNRWA online aid tracking platformNo trucks have entered the main crossings into the area via Rafah and Kerem Shalom in the south since 27 vehicles passed through on Saturday.
In response, humanitarians have repeatedly said that at least 500 aid trucks are needed to keep Gazans healthy, and called for aid to flow into Gaza to try to avert a new crisis caused by the crisis. Israeli troops infiltrated Rafah on May 6. before deadly rocket fire by Hamas militants.
Fewer trucks passing by
While more than 5,600 humanitarian aid trucks entered Gaza in April through both border crossings, only about 1,400 arrived in May, UNRWA data shows.
The UN agency also noted that the country’s medical centers have not received any medical supplies in the past 10 days. However, Health care workers “continue to provide thousands of medical consultations every day at health centers that are still operating,” UNRWA said.
After more than seven months of intense Israeli bombing in response to Hamas-led terrorist attacks on southern Israel, nearly one in two Gazans – some 1.1 million people – face catastrophic levels of hunger. So severe that the United Nations has warned that many people are on the brink of starvation.
The latest casualty data from OCHA via Gazan health authorities shows that more than 35,000 people have now been killed in the violence and more than 79,000 injured. About 17,000 children are unaccompanied or separated from their families.
At a Gaza Security Council briefing earlier this week, the forum heard an update from the United Nations aid coordination office, OCHA, which noted the Israeli military’s announcement last week. previously that they had found the bodies of four Israeli hostages from Gaza. “It is estimated that 128 Israeli and foreign nationals remain detained in Gaza, including deaths where bodies were retained,” said Edem Wosornu, Director of Operations and Advocacy.
