Gaza: ‘People are losing hope’ as aid access is refused to north, warns UNRWA
Besieged northern Gaza is a place of dead bodies lying in the streets and hospitals running out of blood packs – a situation that’s “nothing short of catastrophic”, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said on Tuesday.
Briefing reporters in Geneva from central Gaza, UNRWA senior emergency officer Louise Wateridge warned that amid looming famine in the Gaza Strip, as winter approaches, those forcibly displaced are sleeping on the floor in makeshift shelters surrounded by sewage.
“We are extremely concerned when the rains come to the Gaza Strip, what will happen to 500,000 people who are in areas of flooding?” she said.
Ms. Wateridge stressed that the volume of aid currently entering the war-torn enclave is “the lowest in months”, with an average in October of only 37 trucks per day for the entire 2.2 million population.
According to UNRWA, this represents about six per cent of the commercial and humanitarian supplies allowed in before the war.
Asked about a Tuesday deadline set last month by the United States for Israel to improve the aid situation in the enclave, the UNRWA official said that instead, “aid supplies have lessened”.
The UN continues to be denied access to northern Gaza, she said, where people are “begging for pieces of bread, for water”. Ms. Wateridge added that 1.7 million people in the enclave, or some 80 per cent of the population, did not receive their food rations in October.
Last Friday, food security experts from the UN-partnered Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) Famine Review Committee issued an alert over imminent famine in areas within the northern Gaza Strip.
As suffering continues to worsen, “people are losing hope”, Ms. Wateridge said.
Just this week, two missions to northern Gaza which she was to take part in were denied; the aim had been to deliver chlorine tablets and assess the facilities of those sheltering.
“No one from UNRWA has been able to access the besieged north in over a month,” she said.
The UNRWA official spoke of “pleas and testimonies” from UN colleagues and from doctors in the hospitals in the north, which have been bombed. “The doctors inform us that they have run out of blood supplies. They have run out of medicine… There are bodies in the streets,” she said, adding that ambulances have “stopped functioning” and that people can only get to hospital by themselves, on donkey carts.
“Colleagues are trapped in residential buildings,” unable to leave, Ms. Wateridge said, while the eight UNRWA-run water wells in northern Gaza’s Jabaliya have all ceased operations, leaving people without clean water.
The UNRWA senior emergency officer reiterated the agency’s call to the Israeli authorities for access to the besieged areas, which is becoming “more and more critical each hour now”.
Late last month, the Israeli Parliament voted to ban UNRWA from operating in the country and prohibit officials from having any contact with the agency. The laws are set to come into force 90 days from their adoption.
Asked about any message that UNRWA may have for Hamas, Ms. Wateridge said: “Our call for Hamas as well as the Israeli forces is a ceasefire.” She underscored that the Palestinian militant group initiated “horrific attacks against Israeli civilians on 7 October”, adding that it was unacceptable that the war continued and civilians suffered.
“We have seen horrific suffering of Israeli civilians, the 7 October attacks, followed by horrific suffering of civilians in the Gaza Strip. There needs to be a ceasefire, a release and return of the hostages home and finally some respite to all the civilians, not just in the Gaza Strip, but the surrounding region,” she concluded.
-ends-
STORY: Northern Gaza update - UNRWA
TRT: 4:32”
SOURCE: UNTV CH footage from Geneva, UNRWA footage from Gaza
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 12 NOVEMBER 2024 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND + UNRWA footage filmed 10 November 2024 in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza and 3 November 2024 in Gaza City, Gaza.
1. Exterior wide shot: Palais des Nations, Flag Alley.
2. SOUNDBITE (English) – Louise Wateridge, Senior Emergency Officer, UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA): “The aid entering the Gaza Strip is at its lowest level in months. The average for October was 37 trucks a day into the entire Gaza Strip. And I can tell you, that's for 2.2 million people.”
3. Wide lateral shot: Speaker at the podium of the press conference from rear; speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.
4. SOUNDBITE (English) – Louise Wateridge, Senior Emergency Officer, UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA): “There's a looming famine. We have winter approaching. You might be able to see behind me, the shelters that people have are completely insufficient. People here are really sheltering under any kind of fabric they can find. This is curtains, blankets, sheets. Nothing is waterproof. People are sleeping on the floor. Sewage all around the shelters. And we are extremely, extremely concerned when the rains come to the Gaza Strip. What will happen to 500,000 people who are in areas of flooding?”
5. Wide lateral shot: Speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.
6. SOUNDBITE (English) – Louise Wateridge, Senior Emergency Officer, UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA): “We receive testimonies from people on the ground asking, begging for pieces of bread, for water. The United Nations remains denied access to this area. We have had very limited access to the besieged areas of the north over the last month. It's been over a month now. And, you know, across the entire Gaza Strip there’s approximately 1.7 million people in October, that is 80 per cent of the population, who did not receive their monthly food rations.”
7. Wide lateral shot: Speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.
8. SOUNDBITE (English) – Louise Wateridge, Senior Emergency Officer, UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA): “This week, I have had two missions to the north that I was supposed to be on for WASH [water, sanitation and hygiene], so providing chlorine tablets and assessing facilities of those sheltering. These missions were denied. So, the besieged north is becoming almost impossible, and has been impossible. No one from UNRWA has been able to access the besieged north in over a month.”
9. Wide lateral shot: Speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.
10. SOUNDBITE (English) – Louise Wateridge, Senior Emergency Officer, UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA): “What I can share with you is the pleas and the testimonies we've had from our own colleagues who are trapped there. We've also had pleas and testimonies from the doctors in the hospitals in the north. These hospitals have been bombed. The doctors inform us that they have run out of blood supplies. They have run out of medicine. There are reports that people are left in the street. They are abandoned. There are bodies in the streets. The ambulances have stopped functioning.”
11. Wide lateral shot: Speaker at the podium of the press conference from rear; speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.
12. SOUNDBITE (English) – Louise Wateridge, Senior Emergency Officer, UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA): “Our call for Hamas as well as the Israeli forces is a ceasefire. That is our call for Hamas. They are part of this war. They have been involved in the fighting. They have initiated these horrific attacks against Israeli civilians on 7 October. It is unacceptable that the war continues and that civilians keep suffering. We have seen horrific suffering of Israeli civilians on the 7 October attacks, followed by horrific suffering of civilians in the Gaza Strip.”
13. Medium shot: Cameraperson in the Press room.
14. SOUNDBITE (English) – Louise Wateridge, Senior Emergency Officer, UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA): “There needs to be a ceasefire, a release and return of the hostages home and finally, some respite to all the civilians, not just in the Gaza Strip, but the surrounding region.”
15. Wide shot: Speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.
16. Displaced Palestinians, including children, queuing to receive hot meals provided by charities in Deir Al-Balah, 10 November 2024
17. Driving shots, Gaza City, 3 November 2024.
2
1
2
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Thursday delivered his oral update to the UN Human Rights Council’s 60th session on the human rights situation in Haiti.
The High Commissioner welcomed Wednesday’s decision of the UN Security Council to strengthen the Multinational Security Support mission by transitioning to the Gang Suppression Force for Haiti, stating it is a strong signal of international support for the Haitian people.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF
Gaza: As world waits for US peace plan news, UN aid teams stress need for ceasefire
UN agencies reiterated calls for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza on Tuesday to help alleviate Palestinian suffering, as a new US 20-point plan raised hopes of a halt to the fighting.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
The ongoing Israeli military offensive in Gaza City continues to overwhelm the war-torn enclave’s medical professionals, with four more hospitals forced to shut down this month alone, the UN World Health Organization said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
A UN Human Rights report released today details the dire situation of thousands of civilians detained since Russia’s full-scale armed attack on Ukraine in 2022.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO , UNICEF
Sudan war: Life-saving cholera vaccination campaign begins in Darfur
Amid the devastating war in Sudan, UN aid teams are overcoming major obstacles to curb a cholera outbreak claiming lives across the country, with young children particularly at risk.
2
1
2
Edited News , B-roll | UN WOMEN
Women and girls still reeling from Afghanistan's recent deadly earthquake face even greater suffering rebuilding their lives and livelihoods without much more help from the international community, UN Women said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
Rising civilian casualties, growing ethnic violence and the grim humanitarian situation in Sudan underscore how the crisis there is deepening, according to a UN Human rights report published today.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNITED NATIONS
United Nations agencies staff demonstrates on Place des Nations in Geneva to denounce the killing of their colleagues in Gaza.
1
1
1
Edited News | WMO
The world’s water resources face growing pressure from climate change while emergencies related to the vital resource are increasingly impacting lives and livelihoods, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk addressed the Human Rights Council during a meeting on the Israeli strike on negotiators in Qatar on Tuesday. “Israel’s strike on negotiators in Doha on 9 September was a shocking breach of international law, an assault on regional peace and stability, and a blow against the integrity of mediation and negotiating processes around the world,” he said.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF
Gaza: Thirsty and starving, war-battered families face ‘inhumane’ evacuation
As bombs continue to fall on Gaza City as part of the intensifying Israeli military operation, families with starving children are being pushed southwards from one “hellscape” to another, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
New UN Human Rights report finds 10 years of increased suffering repression and fear
The UN Human Rights Office on Friday published a report on the human rights situation in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) since 2014.