Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Gaza Humanitarian Crisis topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
UN: Gaza humanitarian situation worsening as access and services collapse
Summary
The United Nations says intense hostilities and repeated denials of humanitarian access have damaged hospitals, cut water supplies and closed schools in Gaza, leaving supplies dwindling and hundreds of thousands of civilians at increased risk.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Wednesday that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is deteriorating rapidly as intense hostilities continue and repeated denials of access prevent aid delivery.
UN spokesperson Steph said OCHA and the World Health Organization visited Nasr Hospital in southern Gaza after an attack that damaged the facility's surgical ward. "WHO said 2 people were killed and 8 injured when Nasr's surgical ward was hit, when nearly 3 dozen inpatient beds were destroyed," the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson quoted WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, noting that health care should be protected and must never be militarized. The statement said that OCHA and local partners found evacuation orders in North Gaza covering areas that include nearly 27,000 people in and near roughly four dozen displacement sites; two dozen hospitals, one primary health care center and one medical point are within that evacuation zone. OCHA estimated the newly designated evacuation area covers about 15% of the Gaza Strip — "that's roughly the size of Manhattan," the spokesperson said.
The briefing said the evacuation orders have made more than a hundred water wells and more than three dozen water reservoirs inaccessible, preventing operation, maintenance and repair. The spokesperson warned that this adds strain to the facilities still reachable, forcing generators and pumps to run longer and increasing the risk of failure.
The United Nations also said that attempts by humanitarian organizations to coordinate access with Israeli authorities have been widely denied. "Yesterday, 5 out of 7 attempts to coordinate humanitarian access with Israeli authorities were denied. Today, 6 out of 9 were rejected," the spokesperson said. Those denials have blocked tasks such as collecting supplies left at the border and delivering fuel to bakeries.
The briefing said more than 220 temporary learning spaces remain closed, keeping more than 60,000 children from any form of learning, and that public schools will remain closed for in-person classes until at least the end of Ramadan. The spokesperson added that no cargo trucks have entered Gaza in the last three weeks, leaving some critical supplies to last only a few more days unless entries resume. On bakeries, the briefing said 18 bakeries out of more than two dozen supported by the World Food Programme in Gaza were still operational as of yesterday.
The spokesperson reiterated that international humanitarian law requires civilians be protected whether they move or remain, that displaced people must be allowed to return when safe, and that civilians must be able to receive humanitarian assistance wherever they are.
Why it matters: The denial of access and damage to health and water infrastructure increase the risk of disease, malnutrition and further civilian deaths while undermining humanitarian partners' ability to respond. The UN's public figures on closed schools, damaged hospitals and inaccessible water points provide concrete measures of deterioration.
The UN spokesperson said humanitarian partners continue to call for unimpeded access and protections for civilians and health personnel. "OCHA also reiterates that civilians must be able to receive the humanitarian assistance they need wherever they are," the spokesperson said.
Provenance: The UN briefing's summary of damage to Nasr Hospital, denials of access and the scope of evacuation orders was reported throughout the live transcript from the spokesperson's opening remarks through question-and-answer exchanges.
