Humanitarian aid to Gaza ‘largely blocked’ for two months

By Nathan Morley

The UN has said that humanitarian aid to Gaza has been largely blocked for the past 66 days.

It’s thought that around 75,000 Palestinians are without access to food, water, electricity or any kind of health care. 

In fact, an estimated 26,000 Palestinians are suffering from injuries inflicted over the past year - people with disabilities suffer from trauma, lack of rehabilitation services, and inadequate availability of assistive devices.

Since October 2023, 58 per cent of the 273 WHO-led missions inside Gaza have been either rejected, cancelled or hampered.

This has added to the urgent but extremely difficult task of evacuating patients who need specialist medical support outside the enclave.

Speaking earlier, UN humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza Sigrid Kagg said civilians are facing an “utterly devastating situation”.

OCHA said only four UN supported bakeries are working throughout the Gaza Strip, all of them located in Gaza City.

Furthermore, the United Nations calculates that at least US$6.6 billion is required to address the humanitarian needs of people in Gaza and the West Bank.

Meanwhile, at least 22 people were killed after repeated Israeli airstrikes on the town of Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, according to the AFP news agency, citing the Gaza Civil Defense.

The Kamal Adwan Hospital said it had received the dead. The IDF has not yet commented on the attack.