RAMALLAH – The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has called for giving access to humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip urgently.
“Six-hundred days on, the humanitarian situation in Gaza is at its darkest point yet. As relentless, deadly bombardment and mass displacement intensify, families are being starved and denied the basic means of survival. Meanwhile, the conditions for us to deliver aid safely and at scale are absent,” the agency said.
After almost 80 days of total blockade by Israeli authorities on any supplies, a trickle has entered. But what made it through falls far short of people’s massive needs. Over the past days, we’ve submitted 900 truckloads for Israeli approval.
About 800 were cleared and just over 500 could be offloaded on the Israeli side of Kerem Shalom. We have been able to collect only about 200 on the Palestinian side of the crossing due to insecurity and restricted access.
While letting us bring in some nutrition and medical supplies, as well as flour, Israeli authorities have banned most other items, including fuel, cooking gas, shelter and hygiene products. They also imposed the condition that we could only deliver flour to bakeries and not directly to families. This required people to face large crowds to collect bread from a limited number of bakeries daily, the agency said.
Over the weekend, bakeries that were once supported with humanitarian supplies have shut down due to growing insecurity from large desperate crowds. Food needs to be distributed in multiple forms, and at multiple sites across all Gaza governorates. This is the only way to restore order and prevent mass starvation.
The UNRWA said Israel has clear obligations under international humanitarian law. It must treat civilians humanely, with respect for their inherent dignity. It must facilitate the aid that is needed. And it must refrain from forcible transfer. We need predictable and at-scale aid to flow through multiple crossings all the way to communities, as we have done in the past.
We need unimpeded access. And we need all humanitarian partners, including UNRWA, to be enabled to provide supplies and, critically, services. Supplies on their own do not amount to an effective humanitarian response. It is essential to ensure the uninterrupted delivery of services across Gaza, the agency said.
Israeli authorities have undermined the capacity of our teams to deliver genuine, principled humanitarian assistance that would reach the most vulnerable groups. A new militarized distribution system has just been launched. As we have stated, it does not align with humanitarian principles, it puts people at risk, and it will not meet people’s needs, or dignity, across Gaza.
We continue delivering aid where possible, working as a united humanitarian community of UN agencies and non-governmental organizations. Our principles are non-negotiable. We will not participate in any scheme that undermines neutrality, impartiality, or independence. Aid must not be weaponized. We echo the Secretary-General’s calls: a permanent ceasefire, the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, and full humanitarian access.
We are ready to save lives. Let us work. The window to prevent famine is closing fast,” the agency added.
