Only three of the 21 humanitarian aid missions to northern Gaza have been carried out since the beginning of January, due to delays at Israeli checkpoints and many roads being impassable, the UN said yesterday.
In its daily report, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) highlighted that only 14% of humanitarian missions were completed this month, while in December the percentage was more than 70%.
“The ability to respond to the great needs in northern Gaza is being limited by repeated denials of access by the Israeli authorities”, lamented the UN.
The report detailed that missions to send emergency medical supplies to Gaza City’s central pharmacy were denied on five occasions, and the delivery of fuel needed to operate medical supply facilities was canceled six times.
The World Health Organization (WHO) also complained that it had to cancel six missions in the last two weeks. The report recorded new attacks on health facilities in Gaza, such as the one suffered on Wednesday by a Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance, in which four workers from the organization died and two patients who were already injured.
The attack took place on Via Saladin, Gaza’s main communications axis, at the entrance to the central area of Deir al-Balah.
Attacks were also recorded, this Wednesday, once morest a residential building next to Al-Aqsa hospital, also in Deir al-Balah, which also caused deaths.
According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, territory controlled by the Islamist group Hamas, in the last 24 hours Israeli attacks caused 147 deaths and 243 injuries, bringing the total number of victims since the start of the conflict in the strip, on October 7, to 23,357 dead and 59,410 injured.
