“I think we have been very, very clear in the fact that we do not believe that the Israeli authorities are allowing sufficient humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip,” stressed during a briefing the spokesman for the Secretary General (António Guterres), Stéphane Dujarric. .
The spokesperson confirmed this Tuesday that the Rafah crossing remains closed while the Kerem Shalom crossing is partially functional as shipments reach the Israeli side of the border.
“Access challenges persist due to ongoing fighting, challenging logistics, the safety of our colleagues, and the complexity of coordinating with all involved,” he detailed.
Another access point in the north, the Erez crossing, was open between May 1 and 9, but has remained closed since then.
The United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) also rejected the lack of access to two of its main facilities in Rafah.
Due to the ongoing fighting, UNRWA workers cannot reach the Agency’s distribution center or the World Food Program (WFP) warehouse located in the southern district, UNRWA said this Monday.
According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), more than 75 percent of the Gaza Strip (about 285 square kilometers) is under evacuation orders amid escalating hostilities.
That entity urged respect for international humanitarian law and, in particular, the protection of civilians in all circumstances.
“Wherever they are in Gaza, their essential needs must be met, including food, shelter, water and health,” OCHA stressed.
For its part, the WFP confirmed the loss of more than 100 input distribution points in Rafah alone due to the Israeli military escalation.
This operation, which began on May 5, forced the displacement of more than 900,000 people in the last two weeks, which is equivalent to forty percent of the inhabitants of Gaza.
The Office estimates that 812,000 of the displaced lived in Rafah while more than 100,000 left that governorate after arriving there from other areas in the north.
“Humanitarian partners working to provide shelter to people in Gaza report that there are no tents and very few shelter items left to distribute,” OCHA said.
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