Today's Edition
ISIDORA CIRIC (ABU DHABI)
Almost half of all the food missions to Gaza were denied in March and February, with over 400 aid trucks being denied or impeded by Israeli authorities last month, UNRWA reported on Monday.
UNRWA continues to face disproportionate restrictions on access as the enclave’s residents are becoming more desperate for food, with over 1.1 million people projected to face catastrophic levels of food insecurity by July, the organisation said in its latest situation report published on Tuesday.
“In March 2024, a total of 420 food trucks were denied or impeded by Israeli authorities. Following reports of imminent famine, 40.5% of all food missions have been denied in February and March,” UNRWA reported.
While hundreds of food trucks have been unable to gain entry, only an average of 177 aid trucks per day have successfully made it through the Karam Abu Salem and Rafah land crossings. This marks a significant decrease from the 500 trucks that were entering on a daily basis before October 7.
North Gaza, where over two-thirds of residents face famine, has been impacted the most, as no food convoys have reached the region since January.
"Food convoys that should be going particularly to the north, where 70% of people face famine conditions, and are... actually three times more likely to be denied than any other humanitarian convoys with other kinds of material," Jens Laerke, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) spokesperson said on Monday.
Laerke also noted that the initial screening process typically results in trucks being only half full for security reasons.
“Trucks that go in, screened by COGAT, are typically only half full. That is a requirement that they have put in place for screening purposes. When we count the trucks on the other side, when they have been reloaded, they are full,” he said, stressing that the distribution within Gaza remains an even bigger issue.
The healthcare sector is also under distress, with only 10 hospitals catering to Gaza’s 2 million residents, while 26 are out of service, OCHA said a day earlier. The largest medical complex, Al-Shifa Hospital, was decimated in an Israeli raid that lasted for two weeks.
On April 5, a WHO-led multi-agency mission to access Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City for damage assessment and need determination after previous attempts between March 25 and April 1 were blocked or delayed six times.
Despite coordinating with Israeli authorities, the mission to Al-Shifa faced significant delays at a military checkpoint, UNRWA reported.
Concurrently, a separate WHO mission to Al-Awda and Kamal Adwan hospitals in northern Gaza, intended to deliver medical supplies and support, also faced obstructions, including the detention of a convoy truck driver for over an hour. Safety concerns ultimately forced the abandonment of this mission, the organisation said.
