Joyce Msuya, Acting Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, briefed the ambassadors on the situation in the north, where fighting is escalating.
Hospitals are running out of fuel and vital medical supplies, while food stocks are running low.
The patient was burned alive
Msuya said that since her last meeting a week ago, Gazans had suffered mass casualties from Israeli airstrikes, with Nearly 400 people were killed and nearly 1,500 injured.
The world has also witnessed images of patients and displaced people sheltering near Al Aqsa hospital being burned alive, while many others are suffering from severe burns.
Additionally, more than 20 people were killed and injured in a strike targeting a shelter school in Nuseirat.
Displacement, death and trauma
“The Israeli military offensive is intensifying in the north. Fierce fighting in and around Jabaliya, which is under siege, continues to be reported, as well as indiscriminate rocket fire by Palestinian armed groups into Israel,” she said.
It is estimated that 55,000 people have been displaced from the Jabaliya area, while others remain stuck in their homes due to running out of water and food.
She added that 13 members of one family died on Tuesday after rescue workers were again prevented from reaching injured people trapped under rubble.
“Images emerging from the camp show a traumatized population, fleeing for their lives with no safe place to go.she said.
Pregnant women’s concerns
Meanwhile, only 3 out of 10 hospitals in North Gaza Province are currently operating but only at minimum capacity and with severe shortages of fuel, blood, trauma treatment and medicine.
Msuya highlighted the plight of 155,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women in Gaza, where childbirth is tiring and traumatic.
“There is no prenatal care. No drugs. And then comes hunger,” she said. “About 11,000 pregnant women are suffering from hunger and malnutrition, putting not only their lives but the lives of their newborn babies at risk.”
Help hospitals
She said that after nine separate efforts, an inter-agency team from the United Nations, an international non-governmental organization (NGO) and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, was finally able to reach the patients. Kamal Adwan and Al-Sahaba hospitals in northern Gaza on October 11. October 12.
Ultimately, they transferred more than a dozen critically ill patients from Kamal Adwan to Al-Shifa hospital. Other patients and their companions – who had previously been transferred to Kamal Adwan from Al-Awda hospital – were also taken to Al-Shifa.
The group also provided fuel to keep Kamal Adwan and Al-Awda running, while Al-Sahaba Hospital received fuel as well as blood units, “but Humanitarian aid cannot be provided in one-time installmentsshe said.
Humanity under fire
Ms. Msuya recalled that the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that Kamal Adwan hospital is overloaded, receiving between 50 and 70 new injured patients every day.
“These tasks were completed amid intense hostilities,” she told the Council.
“Drivers from the United Nations and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society were subjected to humiliating treatment during security checks and detention at a checkpoint.”
Food aid is running out
Msuya then turned to the dire food situation in the North. She said no food was brought in from October 2 to 15, “when small amounts were allowed in and all the essentials were needed.” Supplies for survival are running out.”
She stressed that rationing of existing food supplies needs to continue, but stocks are running low.
In Gaza City, she said, more than 110,000 meals are distributed every day by at least 10 kitchens, including supporting the influx of displaced people from North Gaza province.
Meanwhile, from 11 to 13 October, United Nations partners in the North Gaza region distributed more than 1,500 food packages and 1,500 bags of flour to displaced people stranded or in shelter. in and near schools in Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahya.
However, she warned that there is now almost no food left to distribute and that most bakeries will be forced to close again in the next few days without more fuel.
“With the terrible conditions and unbearable suffering in northern Gaza, the fact that humanitarian access is almost non-existent is unconscionable,” she said.
Aid missions are hindered
Msuya reported that during the first two weeks of October, Israel facilitated only one of 54 coordinated movements north through the Al Rashid checkpoint, while another four were blocked. hindered but eventually completed.
She said 85% of travel operations were refused, with the remainder being hindered or canceled due to security or logistical issues.
“Across Gaza, less than a third of the 286 humanitarian missions coordinated with Israeli authorities in the first two weeks of October were carried out without major incidents or delays,” she said.
“Every time a mission is hindered, the lives of those in need and of humanitarians on the ground are in even greater danger.. This sad and unacceptable trend must change.”
UNRWA and partners have started the second round of the polio vaccination campaign in Gaza.
The polio campaign continues
According to WHO, humanitarian organizations recently launched the second phase of a mass polio vaccination campaign in Gaza, which has so far reached nearly 157,000 children.
Ms. Msuya said the campaign once again emphasized the important role of UNRWAthe United Nations’ Palestinian refugee agency, whose teams vaccinated 43% of children on the first day.
“It is important now that the parties continue to respect the humanitarian moratoriums agreed and that access is granted across Gaza to ensure that we can reach all children in need,” she said. vaccines, even in the north.”
Algeria calls for decisive action on the North Gaza crisis
Algerian Ambassador Amar Benjama reiterated that the situation in Gaza has reached a “catastrophic level”, calling on Israel to fulfill its obligation to protect civilian lives according to International Law.
“How can we vaccinate these children, but we cannot feed them?”, he asked, in reference to the second polio vaccination drive underway, adding that the Starving civilians as a method of warfare is explicitly prohibited – referring to “Israel’s deliberate and calculated starvation policy.”
Refers to the Council resolution 2728which “reiterates the need to remove all barriers to the provision of humanitarian assistance on a large scale”, the Ambassador said that over the past week “only six trucks per day are allowed into Gaza, a number so small that it borders on the absurd given the scale of the need.”
Mr. Benjama also issued a warning about Israeli Knesset legislation that could potentially block UNRWA operations: “Such actions,” he said, “will strip the humanitarian aid backbone of the people of Gaza and further complicating the United Nations mission.”
France laments ‘human casualties’ in northern Gaza
French Ambassador Nicolas de Rivière condemned Israeli airstrikes on civilian infrastructure in Gaza. He called on the authorities to ensure the protection of all civilians, in accordance with international humanitarian law.
“We express our alarm at the extremely serious nature of the situation in northern Gaza,” he said, noting that “the death toll has been very heavy.”
Citing local authorities, he said there were nearly 300 victims and 100 injured in one week.
Mr. de Rivière said that the Israeli government must remove obstacles that hinder the provision of aid. “Access has never been so restricted since the beginning of the conflict,” he added.
He also called on Israel to “end projects aimed at criminalizing the activities of UNWRA” and prevent the agency from operating in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
“That will only worsen the already dire humanitarian situation,” he warned.
More to follow…
