UN spokesperson says nearly 200,000 displaced in Gaza in last two weeks
Stephane Dujarric, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s spokesperson, has told reporters that Israel’s displacement orders cover all of Gaza’s northern and southern governorates, and eastern parts of the Strip.
Dujarric also said the United Nations and its humanitarian partners were only able to bring five truckloads of aid into Gaza on Thursday.
“The other 60 trucks had to return to the crossing due to intense hostilities in the area,” he said during a briefing at UN headquarters in New York.
“The limited amounts of aid entering the Strip are nowhere near sufficient to support the 2.1 million people in desperate need of assistance. As conditions on the ground further deteriorate and public order and safety break down, looting incidents continue to be reported.”
He added that a group of armed people stormed warehouses at a field hospital in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza today, “looting large quantities of medical equipment, supplies, medicines, [and] nutritional supplements that were intended for malnourished children”.
More than 12,000 Palestinians taken prisoner by Israel from Gaza: Monitor
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Media Office reports that after 700 people in Gaza were detained by Israeli forces in May alone, the total number of those taken from the enclave since the start of the war has exceeded 12,000.
More than 3,500 Palestinians from Gaza remain incarcerated, while at least 44 people from Gaza have died in prison, the monitor said.
Israel is holding 1,846 people as so-called “unlawful combatants”, which strips them of any legal rights.
In total, Israel is holding 3,577 people under “administrative detention” without charge. Many prisoners have reported being tortured or starved in detention.
‘Aid being sent makes mockery of mass tragedy’ in Gaza: UNRWA chief
Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), says political will is needed to stop “the current mass starvation” in the Gaza Strip.
“We are not asking for the impossible. Allow the UN including UNRWA & humanitarian partners to do our work: assist people in need and preserving their dignity,” he wrote in a post on X.
Lazzarini also noted that the aid that has been allowed into Gaza so far amounts to just more than 10 percent of residents’ daily needs.
64 a day, or rather 32 at most only letting half filled trucks through.
During the ceasefire earlier this year - when bureaucratic & security restrictions were lifted by political will- the UN including UNRWA brought in 600 to 800 trucks a day. No diversion of aid was reported. This is how we collectively turned the tide & prevented a man made famine.
The current mass starvation can be stopped. It takes political will.
