GAZA, (PIC)
Very little humanitarian aid entered besieged Gaza during February, with a 50 percent reduction compared to January, UNRWA said.
“February continues to see very little aid coming in, with on average of nearly 99 trucks entering per day, whereas approximately 150 trucks of supplies were entering Gaza per day in January 2024. The number of trucks entering Gaza remains well below the target of 500 per day, with significant difficulties bringing supplies in through both Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) and Rafah. UNRWA trucks have struggled to enter the Gaza Strip due to security constraints and temporary closures at both crossings,” UNRWA said in a situation report released on Wednesday.
“Humanitarian partners (including UNRWA) have been unable to reach northern Gaza, and increasingly parts of southern Gaza, safely. Aid convoys reportedly continue to come under fire and are denied access by the Israeli authorities,” UNRWA affirmed.
“On 10 February, Education Cluster released its preliminary findings regarding damages to schools since the beginning of the conflict. The report assessed that up to 44 percent of UNRWA school buildings have been either directly hit or damaged,” UNRWA said
A few days ago, UNRWA commissioner-general Philippe Lazzarini said that “aid was supposed to increase not decrease to address the huge needs of two million Palestinians in desperate living conditions.
“Among the obstacles: lack of political will, regular closing of the crossing points, lack of security due to military operations and collapse of civil order,” he added.
Recent findings by UN organizations say that general acute malnutrition has spiked in Gaza among children between six and 59 months old, reaching 16.2 percent and exceeding the critical threshold set by the World Health Organization at 15 percent.
Last Friday, the UN Human Rights Office released a report saying that “the severe restrictions on the supply of basic services and humanitarian aid imposed by Israel on Gaza have raised the specters of famine, dehydration, and the spread of disease.
“Most of the population has been repeatedly displaced and crammed into shelters. The blockade and siege imposed on Gaza amount to collective punishment and may also amount to the use of starvation as a method of war, which are war crimes, and may also, depending on further investigation, amount to other serious crimes under international law,” the UN report stated.
