Tom White, the Director of Affairs for UNWRA, stated that an Israeli naval attack targeted a food convoy this morning in northern Gaza. Fortunately, there were no reported injuries.

The post on X (formerly known as Twitter) was accompanied by two photos. One showed a stationary flat-bed truck parked in front of a United Nations vehicle, which had a large hole where some of its cargo and protective tarpaulin had been.

Multiple crates of aid materials were strewn along the edge of the road, but the contents and location of the truck were not immediately apparent.

has been exacerbated by the ongoing Israeli blockade

The situation in Gaza City has become worse due to the continued Israeli blockade.

UNRWA attempted to access the struggling northern region, while the UN World Food Programme shared on Friday that they were also unsuccessful in reaching northern Gaza City for the third time within a week.

“In January, we were only able to complete four convoys, equivalent to approximately 35 truckloads of food, which will provide sustenance for nearly 130,000 individuals,” stated Matthew Hollingworth, WFP’s Country Director for Palestine.

The WFP representative stated that the current efforts are insufficient to prevent a famine in Gaza, as hunger levels have reached critical levels.

Mr. Hollingworth, in a video on X from central Gaza, explained the extreme difficulty faced by aid convoys attempting to navigate the devastated area after enduring nearly four months of continuous airstrikes by Israel.

“There is widespread destruction and debris, with roads blocked and ongoing conflict in multiple locations across the Strip,” he reported. The situation in Gaza has become increasingly challenging, with intense fighting and numerous checkpoints hindering movement from the southern governorate of Rafah. Approximately 1.5 million people are trapped in Rafah, all in dire need of assistance.”

As of now, the WFP has provided emergency supplies such as rations, canned food, wheat flour, and hot meals to approximately 1.4 million individuals. However, the UN agency stresses that there is a pressing need for more assistance.

Shortages of everything

The recent update from UNRWA indicates that approximately 75% of Gaza’s total population of 2.3 million individuals have been forced to leave their homes.

The United Nations agency has issued a warning that over half of the affected individuals are children, and they are experiencing severe scarcities of crucial resources such as food, water, shelter, and medicine. The ongoing intense conflict in Khan Younis has forced many to seek refuge in the southern town of Rafah, where more than half of Gaza’s population is already residing. Unfortunately, most of them are living in temporary structures, tents, or even exposed to the elements.

The recent report from the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, states that residential areas in Gaza are still being demolished by Israeli forces. This includes areas in southern, eastern, and central Khan Younis, as well as the Al Sabra neighborhood in Gaza City. No injuries were reported in these recent events, according to OCHA.

War objectors

In the meantime, a group of 800 government officials from Western countries released a public statement condemning their countries’ involvement in the war over the weekend. They referred to it as “one of the most devastating humanitarian crises of the current century.”

The individuals who signed the document are believed to be senior government officials and diplomats from the United States and 14 European nations, such as France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland.

They protested that their governments had supported Israel “without real conditions nor responsibilities”, resulting in “tens of thousands of preventable civilian deaths” and the “deliberate” blocking of aid which has left “thousands of civilians at risk of starvation and slow death”.

Escalation fears

As regional tensions escalated, the US and UK carried out strikes on pro-Iranian militia in Iraq and Syria in response to an attack on a US base in Jordan that resulted in the deaths of three American service members.

Amid ongoing requests for a halt in fighting in Gaza and the liberation of all captives, there were worries that the situation could worsen due to recent events in the Red Sea. Houthi fighters have reportedly attacked vessels believed to have connections with Israel.

Frequent exchanges of fire between Israel and Hezbollah on the border with Lebanon have heightened fears of instability in the region.

According to Gaza’s health authorities, the current death toll from the ongoing war, which was triggered by terror attacks led by Hamas on 7 October resulting in 1,200 fatalities and 250 hostages, is at least 27,365 Palestinians killed and 66,630 injured.

According to the Israeli military, 223 soldiers have lost their lives and 1,296 have been wounded in the Gaza ground operation, as reported by OCHA.

Source: news.un.org