to report «iusnews»; A “more hellish scenario is about to unfold” if more aid is not allowed to enter Gaza, UN Humanitarian coordinator Lynn Hastings said in a statement on Monday.
The current amount of aid is insufficient and the conditions required to deliver aid to Gaza do not exist, according to Hastings, the Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and United Nations Resident Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, CNN reported.
“If possible, an even more hellish scenario is about to unfold, one in which humanitarian operations may not be able to respond,” Hastings said.
The use of only the Rafah crossing to bring trucks of aid does not work, the UN said, despite the efforts of its agencies, the Egyptian and Palestine Red Crescent Society, and other partners.
The international body added Gaza’s Health System is “on its knees” with a lack of clean drinking water, no proper sanitation and poor nutrition for people, and shelters with no capacity.
The situation amounts to a “textbook formula for epidemics and a public health disaster”, Hastings said.
“Humanitarian operations cannot be kept on a drip feed of fuel,” she said, adding that fuel is required for hospitals, clean drinking water, sanitation, social services and UN operations, among others.
The UN said fuel must be allowed to enter Gaza in a “manner which ensures Israel’s security”.
Hastings said the UN and NGOs alone can’t support the population of Gaza, stressing that commercial and public sectors must be allowed to bring supplies into Gaza.
The UN said it stands ready to work with all parties to “expand the number of UN-managed safe shelters and to deliver assistance where it is needed”.
Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories said Monday that 180 international humanitarian aid trucks were sent to the Rafah crossing "at the request of the US Administration and in coordination with Egypt".
Israel waged the war on Gaza on October 7 after Hamas carried out the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm into the occupied territories in response to the occupying regime’s intensified crimes against the Palestinian people.
Israel cut off fuel shipments into the Gaza Strip as part of a “complete siege” on the area after Hamas fighters from Gaza launched an attack on Southern Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people, according to Israeli authorities.
Thousands of buildings, including hospitals, mosques and churches, have been damaged or destroyed in the Israeli offensive.
Nearly 16,000 people have been killed in the Israeli assault, according to Palestinian authorities, including more than 6,000 children.
