OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)
The UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Palestine, Jamie McGoldrick, has affirmed that Israel added insulin pens for children to the list of prohibited items that are not allowed into the besieged and war-torn Gaza Strip.
McGoldrick updated journalists on his visit to Gaza on Tuesday, where he said “humanitarians are struggling to provide displaced people with basic services such as food, medical support, shelter, water and sanitation.”
He said, “humanitarians are facing massive issues trying to provide shelter for displaced people seeking safety in the south.”
McGoldrick said, “the UN and partners are doing their best in the face of massive challenges, many of which are outside their control,” emphasizing the need for “minimum operating requirements,” so they can work better.
“We need more supplies to come in from the private sector. We need to be able to scale up our pipelines and the key lifesaving commodities, but also from the authorities, the Israeli side, we need to get them to give us communications equipment,” the UN official said.
“Humanitarian workers are being sent into very hostile areas and they have no radios, they have no communications that work for them to be able to be seen to be safe,” he said, adding that they also do not have enough armored vehicles.
“Furthermore, many of the goods humanitarians are trying to bring into Gaza to support water and sanitation seem to be prohibited by the Israelis,” he said.
“They see them as something that could be used for other things, such as pumps, such as generators, such as spare parts, pipes for water sanitation, solar panels, and some medical equipment, which is key to our ability to address the humanitarian crisis that is there in front of us,” he said.
Some of the medical materials include basic drugs for treating chronic illnesses, such as insulin pens for children, he pointed out.
“Humanitarians are also facing difficulties with bringing in enough shelter material such as tarpaulins, blankets and non-food items,” he added.
McGoldrick also highlighted the need to send fuel supplies to the north to operate generators inside hospitals there, such as Al-Shifa, to serve patients who are ill or wounded.
He added that “there is no real medical or casualty evacuation system in place to transport badly wounded people out of Gaza.”
