THOUSAND OSI Translation. Region: Spanish/Latin America/UN –
Source: United Nations – in Spanish 4
Headline: Israel-Palestine: Attacks on humanitarian convoys threaten to paralyze all aid
Six Palestinians are believed to have been killed in the Gaza City incident and 83 others were injured while waiting for aid trucks to arrive at the Kuwait roundabout, according to media reports.
The incident follows the bombing of a warehouse and food distribution center in southern Rafah that took place this Wednesday, in which at least one employee of the Palestinian Refugee Agency (UNRWA) was killed and 22 others were injured.
“Devastating news for our colleagues in Gaza, who have already endured so much loss, and for the families they were trying to help,” the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator said in a tweet in response.
“How are we going to maintain relief operations when our equipment and supplies are constantly under threat? We must protect them. “This war has to end,” added Martin Griffiths.
Warehouse attack
In a statement shortly after the attack, UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini said the warehouse hit in the Israeli attack was located in eastern Rafah and was one of the “very few” distribution points left by the organization. agency.
“Food supplies are running out, hunger is widespread and, in some areas, turning into famine,” Lazzarini declared, before insisting that the facility’s coordinates had been shared with all parties to the war.
Graphic photos from the warehouse showed a supply box covered in blood near the facility’s entrance. However, according to UNRWA, damage to supplies, which were still being shipped, was minimal.
The “humanitarian islands” plan is disastrous
The agency also warned that Israeli plans to move 1.4 million Palestinians from the southernmost city of Gaza to camps or so-called “humanitarian islands” further north would be “apocalyptic.”
The proposal comes amid deep concern expressed by the international community over an imminent Israeli invasion of Rafah, five months after heavy Israeli bombing began.
“Where are they going to evacuate people if nowhere is safe in the entire Gaza Strip, the north is destroyed, littered with unexploded weapons and is practically unlivable?” said Juliette Touma, UNRWA communications director. “It’s enough. Any further escalation would be absolutely apocalyptic.”
According to the agency, at least 165 members have been killed, including while carrying out their duty in Gaza, since October 7. More than 150 facilities have been hit, including many schools.
Maritime aid plan
Separately, an NGO ship remained moored off the coast of Gaza on Thursday, after setting sail on Tuesday from southern Cyprus via a new humanitarian sea route.
It aims to deliver 200 tons of relief supplies to northern Gaza once a jetty is built south of Gaza City.
Another plan in which the US Army is participating is to deliver two million meals a day by ship to the enclave through a temporary floating structure that has not yet been built.
While the new sea and air aid routes are welcome, UN aid agencies have repeatedly insisted that they are not a substitute for supplies transported by land.
Airdrops
Along these lines, 25 humanitarian organizations asked governments to prioritize the ceasefire and ground humanitarian aid, pointing out that, just as the sea route cannot meet the needs of Gaza, air supplies cannot do so either.
NGOs noted that states have recently increased aid airdrops in Gaza. However, while a convoy of five trucks has the capacity to transport around 100 tonnes of life-saving aid, the launches can only deliver a few tonnes each.
They can also be extremely dangerous to the lives of civilians, the NGOs said, referring to reports that at least five people were killed in Gaza by the free fall of these packages.
The organizations reiterated their call for full, safe and unimpeded humanitarian access through all land crossings, ensuring that States have the responsibility to prevent atrocity crimes from being committed and to exert effective political pressure to end the incessant bombing. and to restrictions that prevent the safe delivery of humanitarian aid.
Threat of famine
Famine is imminent in Gaza, aid teams have warned, especially in the north of the enclave, where aid convoys have been sporadic at best, amid continued fighting and shelling, repeated denials of access and the breakdown of law and order.
A convoy of six trucks from the World Food Program (WFP) arrived in northern Gaza on Tuesday, after being allowed access through a gate in the security fence separating the enclave from Israel, according to the Security Forces. Defense of Israel.
The convoy’s cargo was previously checked at the Kerem Shalom border crossing further south before it was allowed to proceed north, according to Israeli authorities, who added that more than 1,000 aid packages had been sent to northern Loop.
The Humanitarian Aid Coordination Office (OCHA) reported that between the afternoon of March 13 and the morning of March 14, 69 Palestinians were killed and 110 injured, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. Between October 7, 2023 and March 14, 2024, at least 31,341 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and 73,134 injured.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is a translation. Apologies should the grammar and/or sentence structure not be perfect.
