Speaking to journalists in Gaza City, Jonathan Whittall,
local Head of Office for the UN aid coordination wing, OCHA, painted a dire
picture of life under what he called a “total and complete
blockade” now approaching its third month.
“The coming
days in Gaza are going to be critical. Today people are not
surviving in Gaza, those that aren’t being killed with bombs
and bullets are slowly dying,” he said.
Whittall
stressed that humanitarian agencies are unable to meet the
soaring needs of civilians due to the collapse of supply
lines. Hospitals are overwhelmed, but medicines and
equipment are running out. People are going hungry, but food
warehouses are empty and bakeries are closing. Clean water
is desperately needed, but water wells are
inaccessible.
He noted that solid waste is piling up
in the streets with no equipment to remove it, and that
rescue efforts after airstrikes are impossible without fuel
and machinery. Displaced families are forced to live in
rubble without shelter materials, and fishermen are being
shot at sea, while humanitarian organisations lack the
resources to assist them. “Nowhere in Gaza today is safe”,
he said.
He added that children need to learn, but
schools have been destroyed or are inaccessible, and that
education supplies are not available. Prices of the
remaining goods in Gaza continue to rise, but there is no
cash available. There is no cooking gas or fuel, forcing
families to burn trash to generate some energy.
A war
‘without any limits’
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“This is not only about
humanitarian needs, but it’s about dignity. There is an
assault on people’s dignity in Gaza today,” he
warned.
“We also know that humanitarian workers, first
responders, you as journalists, should be protected, like
all civilians, but we’re being killed in a war that appears
to be fought without any limits,” he added.
Whittall
emphasised that the situation in Gaza does not even resemble
a war. “People in Gaza are telling me that they feel like
it’s the deliberate dismantling of Palestinian life in plain
sight, for all to see, documented every day by you as
journalists,” he said.
He described the devastation
witnessed daily — including children’s bodies thrown by
explosions, families burnt alive, and colleagues killed —
as part of what he termed “everyday atrocities.”
“As
humanitarians we can see that aid is being weaponised
through its denial,” he warned. “There’s no justification
for the denial of humanitarian assistance. And humanitarian
aid should never be weaponised.”
Despite the
catastrophic conditions, he stressed that humanitarian
organisations are continuing to operate where possible, but
“we have less and less and less supplies and less and less
capacity to be able to meet the growing and growing needs
that are intensifying across Gaza.”
“Lives depend on
the blockade being lifted, on aid being allowed to enter
into Gaza, on the ceasefire being reinstated,” he said,
calling for real accountability rather than waiting for
history to judge the international community’s
response.
Hunger and malnutrition surging
In a
separate statement, OCHA warned of a “severe decline” in
food availability across Gaza, as malnutrition rates
escalate rapidly, particularly among children.
A UN
partner organisation recently screened around 1,300 children
in northern Gaza and identified over 80 cases of acute
malnutrition, representing more than double the rate
recorded in previous weeks.
“Nutrition partners report
a critical shortage of supplies due to the obstruction of
aid entry and challenges in transporting essential materials
within Gaza,” OCHA said. Access to key facilities, including
UNICEF’s main warehouse
in Rafah, remains heavily restricted.
Journalists who
visited the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for
Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) main
warehouses this week found them largely empty of food
supplies, including flour.
Call for accountability
and action
“Nothing can justify the collective
punishment of the Palestinian people,” UNRWA said in a
separate statement, stressing that international law
prohibits indiscriminate attacks, the obstruction of
humanitarian assistance, and the destruction of vital
civilian infrastructure.
The agency reiterated its
call for a renewed ceasefire, the dignified release of all
hostages, and the immediate, unhindered flow of humanitarian
aid and commercial goods into
Gaza.
