Palestinians displaced from shelters in Beit Hanoun traverse the main Salaheddine road into Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on bicycles and donkey carts following Israeli army evacuation orders on November 12, 2024. — AFP
The UN on Tuesday cautioned that the already minimal aid reaching Gaza had further diminished, with conditions in the besieged north described as 'catastrophic'. UNRWA, the United Nations agency supporting Palestinian refugees, issued this warning as Israel announced the opening of an additional aid crossing into Gaza, coinciding with a US-imposed deadline to enhance humanitarian conditions in the war-torn territory. When asked if there were signs of improvement before the Wednesday deadline, Louise Wateridge, an UNRWA emergencies officer, emphasized that 'aid entering the Gaza Strip is at its lowest level in months'. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin had previously warned Israel that it had until November 13 to allow more aid into Gaza, or face the potential withholding of some military assistance from the United States, Israel's primary supporter. This warning was issued weeks before the November 5 US presidential election, which was won by Donald Trump, who has pledged to give Israel greater freedom of action.
Speaking at a Geneva media briefing via video-link from Gaza, Wateridge noted that 'the average for October was 37 trucks a day into the entire Gaza Strip... That is for 2.2 million people'. She highlighted that 'children are dying. People are dying every day', underscoring that 'people here need everything'. The situation is most dire in northern Gaza, where a UN-backed assessment recently warned that famine was imminent. No food has been allowed into the besieged northern Gaza for an entire month, according to Wateridge, who added that UN requests to access the area have been consistently denied. Wateridge described testimonies from the north as 'endlessly horrific' and increasingly 'critical' by the hour. 'Hospitals have been bombed, the doctors inform us that they have run out of blood supplies, they have run out of medicine... there are bodies in the streets', she said. Israel initiated a major air and ground assault over a month ago, vowing to prevent Hamas militants from regrouping in the already devastated north Gaza.
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