Humanitarian aid to northern Gaza mostly blocked for the last 2 months, UN says
Humanitarian aid to northern Gaza, where Israel launched a ground offensive on Oct. 6, has largely been blocked for the past 66 days
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Humanitarian aid to n orth Gaza, where Israel launched a ground offensive on Oct. 6, has largely been blocked for the past 66 days, the United Nations said Tuesday. That has left between 65,000 and 75,000 Palestinians without access to food, water, electricity or health care, according to the world body.
In the north, Israel has continued its siege on Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and Jabaliya with Palestinians living there largely denied aid, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, known as OCHA, said. Recently, it said, about 5,500 people were forcibly displaced from three schools in Beit Lahiya to Gaza City.
Adding to the food crisis, only four U.N.-supported bakeries are operating throughout the Gaza Strip, all of them in Gaza City, OCHA said.
Sigrid Kaag, the senior U.N. humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, told reporters after briefing the U.N. Security Council behind closed doors Tuesday afternoon that civilians trying to survive in Gaza face an “utterly devastating situation.”
