Palestinians congregate to collect food prepared by a charity kitchen, amidst a hunger crisis, as the Israel-Hamas conflict persists, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on November 24, 2024. — Reuters file
Large numbers of women and children are rummaging through heaps of garbage in certain areas of the Gaza Strip, according to a UN official who visited the Palestinian territory on Friday. Ajith Sunghay, the head of the UN Human Rights office for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, expressed deep concern about the widespread hunger, even in central Gaza where aid agencies have established teams.
"I was particularly alarmed by the prevalence of hunger," Sunghay stated during a Geneva press briefing via video link from Jordan. "Obtaining basic necessities has turned into a daily, harrowing struggle for survival." Sunghay noted that the UN has been unable to deliver any aid to northern Gaza, where an estimated 70,000 people remain due to repeated obstacles or rejections of humanitarian convoys by the Israeli authorities.
Sunghay visited camps housing people recently displaced from northern Gaza. He described their living conditions as appalling, with severe food shortages and inadequate sanitation. "It is evident that substantial humanitarian aid is urgently needed — and it is not arriving. It is crucial that the Israeli authorities facilitate this," he emphasized. He did not provide details on when UN agencies last sent aid to northern Gaza.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin outlined steps last month for Israel to implement within 30 days to address the situation in Gaza, cautioning that failure to comply could impact US military aid to Israel. The State Department announced on November 12 that the Biden administration had determined that Israel was not currently obstructing assistance to Gaza and thus was not violating US law.
The Israeli army, which launched its offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip following the militant group's attack on southern Israeli communities in October 2023, stated that its operations in northern Gaza since October 5 aim to prevent militants from regrouping and launching attacks from those areas. Israel's government body overseeing aid, Cogat, claims it facilitates the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, accusing UN agencies of inefficient distribution.
Looting has further depleted aid supplies within the Gaza Strip, with nearly 100 food aid trucks being raided on November 16. "The women I encountered had all either lost family members, were separated from their families, had relatives buried under rubble, or were themselves injured or sick," Sunghay recounted of his time in the Gaza Strip. "Breaking down in front of me, they fervently pleaded for a ceasefire."
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