Abdullah Abu Deif, Al-Ittihad (Gaza)
The United Nations considered that the lack of security and hostilities constitute major obstacles to humanitarian operations in the Gaza Strip, stressing the continuation of the work of UN relief teams despite the serious obstacles, amid warnings of the recurrence of famine throughout the Strip due to the restrictions imposed on the arrival of aid.
Yesterday, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reiterated that insecurity and active hostilities in the southern Gaza Strip still constitute a major obstacle to humanitarian operations.
OCHA added in a press statement that one of the main ongoing obstacles to the delivery of humanitarian aid is obtaining supplies from the Kerem Shalom crossing.
He explained that in order to do this, humanitarian organizations faced “criminal activities” along the only road they had to use amidst the nearby Israeli military operations.
He pointed out that partners working to support health care in Gaza warn that power outages due to fuel shortages continue to put the lives of critically ill patients at risk.
He said the fuel shortage was hampering efforts to respond to the water, sanitation and hygiene crisis across the Strip.
Regarding groundwater, the UN office warned that the production of this water, which is the main source of supplies in Gaza, has shrunk by more than 50 percent, from 35,000 cubic meters per day to only 15,000 cubic meters.
In turn, the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, confirmed that the relief teams of the United Nations organization continue to provide life-saving aid to the Gaza Strip despite the many serious obstacles facing humanitarian workers there.
In an exclusive interview with UN News, Griffiths said that relief teams will continue to deliver aid to people in Gaza, expressing his particular concern about the security situation in the Strip, in which humanitarian work has become more difficult.
Griffiths, who also serves as Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, said the United Nations was still negotiating with the Israeli authorities, with the help of the United States, to create the right conditions to allow the safe delivery of humanitarian aid.
He pointed out that aid could make a big difference, stressing in this regard the need to open all crossings, re-operate the floating dock, and remove the aid from the beach.
“We are failing the people of Gaza every day every time we are unable to get aid to the people who need it,” he added, noting that “one of the interesting aspects of the Middle East is that there is a lot of political diplomacy and a lot of mediation going on.”
In this context, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) sounded the alarm about the increasing risk of famine throughout the Strip if the war continues and humanitarian access continues to be restricted on a large scale.
“We have seen the risk of famine rise over the past eight months due to the relentless hostilities characterised by shelling and ground operations, coupled with limited access to urgent humanitarian assistance to those in need, which has had a serious impact on all Gazans,” said Maximo Torero, FAO’s chief economist.
He stressed that despite some improvement in the northern Gaza Strip, the situation remains extremely fragile, critical and unpredictable, and any major change could lead to a rapid deterioration towards famine in Gaza, adding that in northern Gaza in particular, ground military operations continue at a high intensity, leading to forced displacement and further exacerbating the social and food security situation.
He warned that most of the Strip’s residents face high levels of acute food insecurity.
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