Israel has completely besieged Gaza and subjected it to the most intense bombardment ever.
United Nations:
The United Nations warned on Tuesday that Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip are “being packed into an increasingly smaller area” and that life-saving necessities are effectively running out. They called for a humanitarian ceasefire to allow access to aid.
“It is now estimated that as many as 1 million people have fled their homes to other parts of Gaza,” senior U.N. aid official Joyce Msuya told a meeting convened by Arab envoys in the enclave, which is controlled by Hamas militants.
Israel last week ordered about 1.1 million people in Gaza – nearly half the population – to move south as it prepares for a ground offensive in retaliation for the worst Hamas attack on civilians in the 75- year-long history of Israel.
“In reality, civilians have nowhere to go – nowhere to escape the bombs and missiles, and nowhere to find water or food, or to escape the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe,” Msuya said, urging a “humanitarian suspension of hostilities.”
Israel has completely besieged Gaza and subjected it to the most intense bombardment ever. It has vowed to destroy Hamas after it killed 1,300 people and took hostages in an attack on Israel on October 7. About 3,000 Palestinians have been killed.
International diplomacy has focused on bringing about a humanitarian pause in the conflict near the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza to allow the delivery of aid. Egypt says Rafah has not been officially closed but has become unusable as a result of Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza side.
“We cannot move humanitarian trucks and convoys while there is active bombing,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Tuesday. “Intensive discussions, in which we are involved, are ongoing with a number of parties to try to get the most basic humanitarian aid in as quickly as possible.”
After nine hours of negotiations, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said early on Tuesday that he had agreed with Israel to “develop a plan” to get aid to Gaza. He gave no details. US President Joe Biden will visit Israel on Wednesday.
UN aid chief Martin Griffiths travels to Egypt on Tuesday and plans to visit Israel, while UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will arrive in Cairo on Thursday.
Ted Chaiban, deputy executive director of the UN children’s agency UNICEF, told the meeting on Tuesday that there is a risk of an outbreak of infectious diseases in Gaza if water supplies run out.
“We have a population of 2.3 million people in Gaza, who have virtually no drinking water. We are down to three liters per person, when the normal average should be 15 litres,” he said.
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