GENEVA - The month-long Israeli siege in northern Gaza has left civilians on the brink of disaster, preventing them from accessing the essentials for their survival, including water, UN humanitarians warned on Thursday.
Aid workers are being forced to work in unsafe conditions, as insecurity and restrictions by Israeli forces prevent them from reaching people in need, Stephanie Tremblay, UN Associate Spokesperson, told journalists at the regular news briefing in New York, citing reports from the UN relief coordination office, OCHA.
“Palestinians there have absolutely no protection as the bombardment continues,” she said, reiterating that the entire population in north Gaza “is at imminent risk of dying from disease, famine and violence.”
That alarm was sounded last week by top UN officials and heads of global humanitarian organizations.
According to initial estimates by UN-partner agencies on the ground, about 14,000 displaced Palestinians in the area are staying in shelters and other sites, including three collective centres run by the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), one other collective hub and six makeshift locations.
Medical evacuation
Despite ongoing hostilities, the World Health Organization (WHO) carried out its largest medical evacuation in over a year, moving 90 critically ill patients, including 38 children, to safety in the UAE and Romania.
Before the evacuation, WHO transferred 16 patients and 20 caregivers from northern Gaza to the Nasser Medical Complex in the south, Ms. Tremblay said, renewing WHO’s call for the establishment of safe corridors for patient evacuations.
Meanwhile, some 40 UN aid trucks coordinated by reproductive health agency, UNFPA, carrying essential medical and hygiene supplies, remain stranded at border points in Egypt and Jordan, awaiting clearance to enter Gaza.
Only 16 UNFPA trucks have made it through since the start of October. Last week, the agency managed to distribute some 6,300 dignity, hygiene, and postpartum kits in Deir al Balah.
In Gaza City, UNFPA delivered three inter-agency reproductive health kits to the Sahaba and Al Helou hospitals, along with 765 dignity kits to other partners.
