The United Nations has not been able to collect aid from the Kerem Shalom crossing since June 18, according to the Office of the Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General.
“Since 18 June, the UN has not been able to pick up supplies from Kerem Shalom crossing,” Farhan Haq, the UN Deputy Spokesperson told reporters on Friday.
Haq said the UN was working with humanitarian partners and relevant parties, “to address the lack of public order and safety, alongside other impediments to a meaningful humanitarian response.”
He called on Israel to ensure safe humanitarian access saying “As the occupying Power, it is incumbent upon the Israeli authorities to restore public order and safety as far as possible and facilitate safe humanitarian access so that assistance reaches civilians in need.”
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Hospitals Barely Functioning
The deputy spokesperson said the UN was “working relentlessly” to restore key services at health facilities in northern Gaza “as the health system struggles to address soaring needs” amid a lack of any field hospitals in the area.
He stressed that “only seven hospitals remain functional” in central and southern Gaza, where most of Gaza’s population was now crammed in dire conditions.
“Only seven hospitals remain functional, all partially, including three in Deir al Balah, four in Khan Younis and none in Rafah, alongside eight field hospitals,” Haq stated.
In addition to the lack of health facilities, he said his UN colleagues warn that the volume of medical supplies entering Gaza remains insufficient to sustain the health response.
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Floating Pier
Last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) delivered its first cargo through the Ashdod port for shipment to Gaza via Kerem Shalom with enough supplies to cover the health needs of 35,000 people, he said.
“While this is a welcome development, the supplies are barely a fraction of what’s needed to sustain the massive health response,” Haq reportedly said. “We need a sustained flow of aid into and across Gaza, as well as unimpeded access for humanitarian operations, efforts to be able to resupply hospitals”.
On news of the US-built floating pier in Gaza, Haq pointed out that the World Food Programme (WFP) handles the logistics of the dock.
Due to security concerns, “we’re not in a position to resume our activities there at this point,” as in recent days there have been “fairly close calls involving UN personnel.”
“Earlier today, I heard a report that World Food Programme personnel were carrying out activities near Kerem Shalom and there was IDF (Israeli military – PC) tank fire about 40 metres away from that position … We’re trying to see what happened there, but we take this very seriously.”
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Over 37,000 Killed
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 37,431 Palestinians have been killed, and 85,653 wounded. Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
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The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.
(PC, Anadolu)
