He said the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) and other partners were present on the trip.
“The team said displaced people are in dire need of food, water, health care and protection,” Mr. Dujarric said in daily meeting from New York.
“They also saw fuel shortages that were undermining aid agencies’ efforts to provide vital services to displaced families.”
Mr. Dujarric noted that humanitarian organizations are still having difficulty delivering aid due to limited access and “lack of public order.”
He also said hospitals, water plants and other facilities were running on generators because Gaza had been without electricity since October.
Feminine hygiene products
UNRWA Senior Communications Officer Louise Wateridge joined the missions and she told United Nations News The scenes she saw were “apocalyptic”.
Meetings with a number of women-led groups have shown “an urgent need for hygiene kits”, Ms Wateridge said.
The communications officer said she spoke to a woman who had a caesarean section five months ago, “and was forced to leave the hospital three hours later because they needed their own space.”
“She had no hygiene kit, no toiletries after this very, very expensive surgery, and then she had to look after twin girls, who are now four months old,” Ms Wateridge said. New United NationsS.
Stuck in the North
She estimates there are about 300,000 people in northern Gaza.
Some families are trying to move south but are having trouble crossing the border, she said, while others remain in the north because they believe they will die regardless of their location.
“People in the north have been stuck in the north for months. Only recently have families been allowed to move from the north to the south,” said Ms Wateridge.
Powerful system
She told United Nations News that UNRWA has a “robust system” where people can communicate their needs to a specific point of contact.
“We can’t always meet the need depending on how much aid we actually get into Gaza,” she said. “But [several] UN partners…are working together to be able to provide these essentials to these people.”
Ms Wateridge said UNRWA and other UN partners must do everything in their power to ensure supplies are delivered to the Gaza Strip. She also said partners must ensure unrestricted access to various areas in Gaza City to ensure supplies are delivered to certain communities.
