UN RELIEF CHIEF DECLARES GAZA THE MOST DANGEROUS PLACE FOR AID DELIVERY

NEW YORK, Dec 24 (Bernama-WAFA) -- Tom Fletcher, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, has raised alarm over the escalating humanitarian crisis in Gaza, calling it the most dangerous region for aid delivery, Palestine News and Information Agency (WAFA) reported.

“We deal with tough places to deliver humanitarian support. But Gaza is currently the most dangerous, in a year when more humanitarians have been killed than any on record.”

Fletcher warned that North Gaza has been under a near-total siege for more than two months, raising the spectre of famine. 

After concluding a trip to the Middle East, where he met with humanitarian teams in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, he said: “In January 2024, the International Court of Justice issued the first set of provisional orders, in the case on the application of the Genocide Convention in the Gaza Strip.”

“Less than a year later, the sustained intensity of violence means that there is nowhere that civilians in Gaza are safe. Schools, hospitals and civilian infrastructure have been reduced to rubble,” he added.

“South Gaza is extremely overcrowded, creating horrific living conditions and even greater humanitarian needs as winter sets in. Across Gaza, Israeli airstrikes on densely populated areas continue, including on areas where Israeli forces have ordered people to move, causing destruction, displacement and death.”

"As a result, despite the massive humanitarian needs, it has become almost impossible to deliver even a fraction of the aid that is so urgently required. The Israeli authorities continue to deny us meaningful access – over 100 requests to access North Gaza denied since 6 October," he noted.

“Meanwhile, in the West Bank, the situation continues to deteriorate, and the death toll is the highest we have recorded,” maintained the UN relief chief.

“In the past year, Israeli military operations resulted in the destruction of essential infrastructure such as roads and water networks, especially in refugee camps from which families have been displaced. Rising settler violence and home demolitions have resulted in displacement and growing needs. Movement restrictions are impeding people’s livelihoods and access to essential services – especially healthcare.”

He called on the international community to defend international humanitarian law, demand the protection of all civilians, release all hostages, defend UNRWA’s vital work and break the cycle of violence.

He further paid tribute to the humanitarians working to save the lives of civilians in these conditions.

-- BERNAMA-WAFA