UN reports 'catastrophic' conditions in Gaza despite renewed aid

Conditions in besieged Gaza are now the worst since the genocidal war began 19 months ago, the United Nations has said, warning that a resumption of limited aid deliveries has done little to alleviate the humanitarian catastrophe.

"Any aid that gets into the hands of people who need it is good," said UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Friday.

"But overall, the aid deliveries so far have had very, very little impact. The catastrophic situation in Gaza is the worst since the war began," he added.

Under mounting international pressure, Israel ended an 11-week blockade 12 days ago, allowing restricted UN-led aid operations to resume.

On Monday, a controversial new distribution channel — Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), backed by the United States and Israel — was launched.

The UN and international aid groups have refused to collaborate with the GHF, citing concerns over neutrality and accusing the organisation of a distribution model that displaces Palestinians.

Israel ultimately wants the UN to work through the GHF, which relies on private US security and logistics firms to move supplies to so-called "secure distribution sites" in Gaza, where civilian teams hand out the aid.

Access issues

Over the past 12 days, the UN says it has managed to bring in only around 200 truckloads of aid — far below what is needed — due to Israeli restrictions and ongoing invasion.

Aid trucks and even a World Food Programme warehouse have reportedly been looted by desperate civilians.

UN officials have also criticised Israeli restrictions on the type of aid allowed.

"Israeli authorities have not allowed us to bring in a single ready-to-eat meal. The only food permitted has been flour for bakeries. Even if allowed in unlimited quantities, which it hasn’t been, it wouldn’t amount to a complete diet for anyone," said UN humanitarian affairs spokesperson Eri Kaneko.

Under a complex process, aid is first inspected by Israel, then transported to the Palestinian side of the Karem Abu Salem crossing, where it is offloaded and reloaded onto trucks headed into Gaza.

Several hundred additional truckloads are currently awaiting UN collection on the Palestinian side of the crossing.

The Israeli military coordination agency, COGAT, publicly criticised the UN for failing to collect the shipments.

However, the UN said the Israeli army denied all requests to access the crossing on Tuesday.

When 65 trucks were eventually cleared on Thursday, all but five were forced to turn back due to intense attacks.

The five that got through delivered medical supplies to a field hospital — only to be overwhelmed by starving Palestinians shortly afterwards.

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Source: TRT