Israel blocked all humanitarian aid for northern Gaza in November, says UN

The UN announced yesterday that Israel has blocked or obstructed all attempts to deliver life-saving humanitarian aid to the northern Gaza Strip throughout November. Details were provided by Farhan Haq, deputy spokesperson for the UN.

Haq told a press briefing that the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) attempted 41 humanitarian missions to reach Palestinians in the besieged areas of northern Gaza this month. “Our colleagues in OCHA report that none of the 41 attempts to reach Palestinians in besieged areas of northern Gaza with life-saving assistance this month has been facilitated by the Israeli authorities.”

He added that Israel blocked 37 of the attempts while “four missions were approved, but then impeded on the ground and accomplished only partially.”

The spokesperson warned further that thousands of forcibly displaced Palestinians are “even more vulnerable” as winter approaches, with overcrowded conditions leading to severe sanitation issues. He noted that the build-up of sewage in densely populated areas is also a significant health threat.

Moreover, Haq dismissed claims that the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has evacuated its HQ building in occupied East Jerusalem. Such reports, he said, are unfounded.

“UNRWA said that it maintains its operation in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and in the Gaza Strip for the benefit of Palestine Refugees,” noted Haq, adding the agency “will continue to undertake its operations and programmes despite increased attempts to actively prevent it from implementing its mandate.”

The UN official also rejected claims by the Wall Street Journal that the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, was not reappointed due to her alleged refusal to classify the Gaza crisis as genocide.

“That is false,” explained Haq. “Ms. Nderitu’s contract is coming to an end today, but she has now fulfilled her full term and the secretary-general [Antonio Guterres] certainly appreciates the work she did as special advisor on the prevention of genocide.” Regarding the definition of genocide, he added, any idea that the secretary-general wanted her term to end because of that is just false. “Ms. Nderitu had a prevention mandate, and what she did under that prevention mandate is point out the risk factors for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, and we appreciated that work.”

Haq said on Wednesday, “The World Food Programme reported that all bakeries in central Gaza have shut down due to severe supply shortages, exacerbating the food crisis. The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned of worsening malnutrition, with two-thirds of acute malnutrition cases among children recorded in the last five months. Aid efforts are ongoing, with stabilization centers for malnourished children operating under significant constraints.”

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. (A paragraph was added from Wednesday’s briefing.).