Since October 1, “no” humanitarian aid has entered northern Gaza, the UN denounces

MADRID 12 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The deputy spokesman for the UN Secretary General, Farhan Haq, denounced this Friday that the main crossings to the north of the Gaza Strip have been cut off and that “no” food aid has entered there since last 1 of October.

“The main crossings to the north have been closed and will be inaccessible if the current escalation continues (…) Aid entering Gaza is at its lowest level in months. No one has received food packages this month due to access restricted aid supplies,” he declared during a press conference.

According to information from the World Food Program (WFP) cited by the spokesperson, the organization has already distributed the last reserves it had left in the north of the Strip, “but they are barely enough for two weeks.” “Many of these kitchens, distribution points and bakeries have been forced to close, and others are at risk of doing so if the conflict continues on this scale,” he detailed.

Furthermore, the recent Israeli offensive in northern Gaza has forced the suspension of protection services as well as malnutrition treatments from which about a thousand children benefited, Haq denounced.

On the other hand, the situation in the south of the Palestinian enclave is also “on the brink.” Despite this, Haq has defended that humanitarian organizations “are responding as best they can” and has assured that the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) together with its partners “are distributing bread, prepared meals or cooked food, as well as flour, inside and outside designated shelters.

International organizations have denounced since the outbreak of the war that Israel’s political and military authorities have made it difficult for humanitarian aid to enter Gaza. Added to this is also the hostile actions of extremist Israeli civilians, who have even attacked convoys loaded with aid and basic supplies on the road route to the Strip.

The United Nations estimates that around 500 trucks entered the Gaza Strip daily before the war, while last August only 1,559 trucks were able to cross the Kerem Shalom and Rafah border crossings despite the fact that this summer has declared a famine alert in some areas of Gaza.

According to data provided by UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini, in August more than one million people did not receive food rations, while in the month of September this figure increased to more than 1.4 million. people.

“Meanwhile, more than 100,000 tons of food supplies are stranded outside Gaza due to access restrictions, insecurity, damaged roads and the collapse of public order,” Lazzarini added, also denouncing the high levels of destruction in crop fields “forces us to depend exclusively on humanitarian aid.