Reports from United Nations organizations indicate that for the first time on Thursday, medicines for Israeli prisoners and detainees were allowed into Gaza alongside a shipment of relief supplies for Palestinians, under an agreement brokered by Qatar and France.
According to the official United Nations website, UN humanitarian workers warn that the level of assistance for many residents of Gaza has now become “near catastrophic”.
This development comes at a time when the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported “intense” ongoing Israeli bombing of the occupied territories and rocket fire at Israel by Palestinian armed groups in its latest update on Wednesday.
As per the World Food Programme (WFP), the continuation of violence has made the distribution of relief aid nearly impossible beyond Rafah in southern Gaza, where now over 1.2 million people live in dangerously overcrowded conditions under plastic covers.
“The aid situation is nearly catastrophic in areas outside Rafah,” stated Abeer Atieh, WFP’s Communications Officer and official spokesperson for the Middle East and North Africa region. Her comments echo repeated calls for greater access for other UN agencies working to reach all five governorates of Gaza.
In the first two weeks of the year, humanitarian agencies planned 29 missions to deliver life-saving supplies north of the Gaza Valley. However, only one in four were able to proceed after Israeli authorities denied access to the rest, according to OCHA.
The UN aid wing also noted that two additional missions, initially coordinated with Israeli authorities, “could not be completed due to the unsuitability of designated roads or excessive delays at checkpoints, preventing the missions from succeeding within the safe operating windows.”
Among the more than 100 Israelis believed to be still detained in Gaza, reports indicate that about 45 require treatment for chronic illnesses or other life-saving medications.
Meanwhile, amid the ongoing bombing and violent clashes in Gaza, over 160 Gaza residents have died in the past two days, and another 350 have been injured, raising the total confirmed number of Palestinians killed since the outbreak of the war to over 24,400, according to OCHA citing health officials in the sector.
Three Israeli soldiers were reported killed in clashes in Gaza on Tuesday and Wednesday, implying that 191 Israeli fighters have died since October 7, when coordinated incursions by Hamas inside Israel led to the death of about 1,200 people and the capture of about 250 Israelis, resulting in widespread Israeli retaliation.
Earlier this week, OCHA warned that the destruction wrought by the war has left only “one of the three water pipelines from Israel to Gaza” functioning.
Amid already record levels of diarrhea and other diseases caused by poor sanitation and hunger, the UN aid office indicated that the water pipeline of Deir al-Balah – capable of nearly 17,000 cubic meters of water daily – urgently needs repairs.
Ted Chaiban, Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), warned on Thursday, after a three-day visit to Gaza this week, of witnessing “some of the worst conditions I’ve ever seen.”
“Since my last visit, the situation has shifted from catastrophic to near collapse,” he stated in a press release. UNICEF has described the Gaza Strip as the most dangerous place in the world for a child. “We’ve said this is a war on children. But it seems these facts cannot be conveyed.”
He added, “Among the nearly 25,000 people killed in the Gaza Strip since the escalation of hostilities, reports suggest that up to 70% are women and children. The killing of children must stop immediately.”