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U.N. says Gaza aid flows remain insufficient as civilian deaths and displacement mount
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Summary
At a U.N. briefing, the U.N. spokesperson said continued fighting and restricted access are preventing sufficient humanitarian aid from reaching people in Gaza, with agencies reporting high civilian casualties, fuel shortages and malnutrition among children.
Farhan, U.N. spokesperson, said Monday that continued hostilities and constraints on aid routes have left humanitarian assistance to Gaza far below needs and contributed to high civilian casualties.
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has reported that many people have been killed and injured while seeking food along U.N. convoy routes and at militarized distribution points; the spokesperson cited an OCHA figure of about 1,500 people reportedly killed since May. He said U.N. colleagues continue to risk their lives to provide life‑saving assistance and that, on Sunday, Israeli air strikes killed a health worker from the Palestine Red Crescent Society in Khan Younis.
The spokesperson said OCHA reported fresh displacement orders in Gaza City covering the Tufa neighborhood and warned that such orders push people into overcrowded, unsafe areas without shelters or essential supplies. He said OCHA estimates only 12% of Gaza is outside Israeli militarized zones or areas affected by displacement orders.
Farhan said some food and nutrition items have entered Gaza in recent days — including wheat flour, ready‑to‑eat rations, high‑energy biscuits for pregnant and breastfeeding women, infant formula and hygiene kits — but that these supplies represent “a fraction of what is needed.” He cited UNICEF warnings that malnutrition among children in Gaza is reaching catastrophic levels.
On fuel, the spokesperson said the U.N. was able to collect about 200,000 liters from Kerem Shalom crossing but that overall deliveries remain inadequate. He said that roughly 70,000 liters of fuel are needed each day for emergency operations, while only 29,000 liters had been received, and that Israeli authorities had approved an increase in the number of tankers allowed in weekly shipments.
Farhan described operational impediments for convoy missions, saying some trips inside Gaza now take more than 18 hours and that teams often wait more than 10 hours on dangerous or congested roads. He said 7 of 11 missions requiring coordination with Israeli authorities were facilitated on one recent day while two were impeded and another was not fully accomplished.
The spokesperson reiterated the U.N. position that a ceasefire is critically needed to reach civilians in need and urged facilitation of “a sustained, uninterrupted, and scaled up flow of aid, including commercial goods.”
