UN says Israel denied twice as many humanitarian missions in August as in July

Aug. 30 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The UN has reported that the number of Israeli refusals to allow humanitarian missions and movements in the Gaza Strip has doubled in August compared to the figures for July, in a context marked by a serious social crisis resulting from the incessant military offensive.

In northern Gaza, Israeli authorities rejected 68 requests from humanitarian actors, compared with 30 in July, which meant that only 74 deployments were able to take place, 37 percent of the total. In the south, the number of requests from humanitarian actors has increased from 53 to 99 in one month, according to a report by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The organization also noted that “attacks on humanitarian staff and missions are increasing the risk of restricted access and delivery of aid,” as was evident this week with a shooting at a World Food Programme (WFP) vehicle. The agency has suspended the movement of its staff “until further notice.”

The Israeli army has also acknowledged an attack on Thursday against an aid convoy in the south of the Strip, although it claimed that the target was armed men who had taken control of one of the vehicles. The NGO ANERA confirmed the incident on Friday, which left four people dead.