In a statement released by the UN Humanitarian Country
Team – which leads coordinated relief efforts across the
Occupied Palestinian Territory – officials condemned
Israeli efforts to dismantle the current aid
system.
The team led by the UN’s top aid official in
the region representing UN and non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) both international and Palestinian,
said Israeli plans would “contravene fundamental
humanitarian principles” and deepen the suffering of
civilians already enduring severe shortages of food, water,
and medical care.
“Bakeries have shut. Community
kitchens have closed. Warehouses stand empty. Children have
gone hungry,” the statement said, describing the dire
conditions facing the population.
The UN said Israeli
authorities were attempting to impose a new aid distribution
system that would funnel humanitarian supplies through
military-controlled hubs, rather than allowing UN agencies
and NGOs to operate independently.
‘Dangerous’
Israeli proposal
The proposal, the UN said, would
leave “large parts of Gaza, including the less mobile and
most vulnerable people,” without aid and would force
civilians to enter militarised areas to access basic
necessities.
“This is dangerous,
driving civilians into militarised zones to collect rations,
threatening lives, including those of humanitarian
workers,” the UN said, warning it would also exacerbate
forced displacement across the
strip.
According to news reports, the
Israeli government has defended the policy as a security
measure. At the same time, Israeli forces are planning to
ramp up operations in central and southern Gaza.
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On
Saturday, call up notices were reportedly issued to
thousands of Israeli military reservists, indicating a
likely escalation of the offensive inside the
Strip.
Guiding principles
The UN statement
reaffirmed that aid operations must remain guided by the
principles of “humanity, impartiality, independence and
neutrality” and said all 16 UN entities and major
humanitarian partners working in Gaza had endorsed this
unified position.
“Humanitarian action responds to
people’s needs, wherever they are,” the team
said.
UN teams remain on the ground, “ready to again
scale up the delivery of critical supplies and services”
once the blockade is lifted. They urged global leaders to
intervene and pressure Israel to reopen border crossings
immediately.
“The time is now,” the UN
said.
In a social media post on Sunday, the UN aid
agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, pointed out that
nearly a third of essential supplies for civilians in the
Gaza Strip are out of stock while another third are
projected to run out in under two
months.
