UN 2 1 million besieged in half of the Gaza area

A spokesman for the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Stephane Dujarric, revealed that about 2.1 million people in the Gaza Strip are still trapped within less than half of the Strip’s area, in light of the continuous humanitarian deterioration. Dujarric said, in press statements today, Wednesday, that the World Food Program has monitored an increase in malnutrition levels among the population, in an indicator that reflects the exacerbation of the food crisis in the sector. He pointed out that the restrictions imposed on the entry of basic materials, in addition to the restrictions on the operations of a number of main partners, impede the resumption of local services in Gaza. In a related context, the spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Thameen Al-Khaitan, earlier called on the occupation authorities to lift all restrictions related to basic needs and allow humanitarian aid to reach the Strip.

Al-Khitan stressed that the situation in Gaza remains “extremely dangerous,” with severe shortages of clean drinking water, food, cooking gas, and other basic necessities.

The Strip also suffers from a critical shortage of medicine, depriving large numbers of patients, especially children, of necessary treatment, amid ongoing calls for the widespread delivery of humanitarian aid.