The head of OCHA said that the attacks by the Israeli army and the Palestinian groups are preventing people who want to save lives in the war zones.
Efforts by the United Nations to provide aid to Gaza have “reached a dead end”, a senior official has warned.
Aid operations in Gaza are facing mounting obstacles The Israeli army continued attacks on aid workers amid a breakdown in law and order in the war-torn region, the head of the UN humanitarian agency (OCHA) said in a statement on Monday. He also saw the threat of the Palestinian armed forces.
Tom Fletcher, executive secretary for humanitarian affairs and emergency response coordinator, he said: “The reality is that although we are determined to provide food, water and medicine to the survivors, our efforts to save lives have reached their peak.”
The official noted that an Israeli airstrike seriously injured three people at a popular food distribution center where a partner of the World Food Program (WFP) works.
Israeli forces also fired more than 16 rounds at the popular UN summit at a checkpoint from south to north on Sunday, he added.
Armed Palestinian gangs are also disrupting operations. They hijacked six oil tankers entering the Karem Abu Salem area, known as Kerem Shalom to Israel, leaving aid agencies without fuel, Fletcher said.
“There is no clear government plan. The Israeli military is unable or unwilling to ensure the safety of our convoys. The words of Israeli officials insult our aid workers even when the army is attacking them. Community volunteers who accompany our tracking teams. Now there's a perception that it's dangerous to protect convoys but safe to hijack them,” Fletcher said.
Israel's massacre in Gaza has killed at least 45,854 Palestinians and injured 109,139 since October 7, 2023. About 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the terrorist attacks led by Hamas on the same day, and about 250 were taken captive.
OCHA has also expressed deep concern after a child froze to death in Gaza on Monday due to hypothermia and Israel's ban on providing aid, tents, blankets, mattresses and other supplies to Palestinian refugees.
“These deaths could have been prevented if the resources needed to protect these children had been made available to their families,” it said.
The United Nations estimates that about 1.6 million people in Gaza are living in shelters that do not protect them from the winter cold, and about half a million are in areas prone to flooding. Officials in Gaza say 110,000 of the 135,000 tents used as shelters in the Strip have been destroyed and are no longer suitable for use.
Fletcher called on UN member states to ensure that civilians, as well as all humanitarian aid, are protected.
“This should not be said,” he insisted.