Gaza: ‘Worst-case scenario’ unfolds as two-month aid blockade deepens suffering - OCHA
Two months into a devastating aid blockade of Gaza food has run out and people are fighting over water amid relentless bombing, the UN’s humanitarian affairs coordination office (OCHA) said on Friday.
Speaking from Gaza City OCHA spokesperson Olga Cherevko told journalists in Geneva that a friend of hers “saw people burning a few days ago from the explosions and there was no water to save them.”
Since all entry points into the war-torn enclave were “sealed by the Israeli authorities for the entry of cargo” in March , the “worst-case scenario” was triggered, Ms. Cherevko said: supplies are depleting while the conflict rages on.
“Food stocks have now mainly run out, water access has become impossible,” she told journalists in Geneva. As Ms. Cherevko spoke, she noted that a “very violent fight” for access to water was taking place downstairs from her, with people throwing rocks and firing shots at a water truck pulling away.
The OCHA spokesperson said that every day she was seeing children “who have been deprived of their childhood for many months,” and elderly people “rummaging through piles of trash” in search of food and of things to burn for cooking in the absence of fuel. During a visit Thursday to Patient Friends Hospital, a paediatric hospital in Gaza City which had been attacked several times during the war, she heard reports of rising malnutrition rates, she said.
“Hospitals report running out of blood units, as mass casualties continue to arrive,” Ms. Cherevko stressed, while precious fuel is being rationed.
“Gaza is inching closer to running on empty,” she added.
Ms. Cherevko said that UN humanitarians are “in constant contact” with the Israeli authorities and are advocating for border crossings to reopen. “We have mechanisms that mitigate diversion, ensure that aid reaches the people it’s intended to reach,” she said.
“We are ready to resume delivery at scale as soon as the crossings reopen, Ms. Cherevko insisted. “We stand by our pledge to remain principled and continue relieving people’s suffering, wherever they may be.”
In an appeal to the Israeli authorities on Thursday, the UN’s top humanitarian official and OCHA chief Tom Fletcher said, “Lift this brutal blockade. Let humanitarians save lives”.
Mr. Fletcher reaffirmed the urgent need for the release of hostages taken by Hamas on 7 October 2023, who “should never have been taken from their families” and stressed that “aid, and the civilian lives it saves, should never be a bargaining chip”.
Ms. Cherevko said that over the past one and a half months, 420,000 people have been “once again forced to flee, many of them with only the clothes on their backs, shot at along the way, arriving in overcrowded shelters, as tents and other facilities where people seek safety, are being bombed”.
“I worry that five, 10, 20 years from now, we will look at our children and grandchildren in shame and we will not be able to explain to them why we could not stop this horror,” she concluded.
“How much more blood must be spilled before enough becomes enough?”
-Ends -
STORY: Gaza two months blockade - OCHA 2 May 2025
TRT: 6:38”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 2 MAY 2025 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND and 1 MAY 2025, GAZA CITY
1. Exterior wide shot: Palais des Nations, Flag Alley.
2. Wide shot: Speakers at the podium of the press conference from rear; speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.
3. SOUNDBITE (English) – Olga Cherevko, spokesperson in Gaza, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “All entry points were sealed by the Israeli authorities for the entry of cargo triggering the countdown to the worst-case scenario – supplies becoming depleted while the war rages on. Food stocks have now mainly run out, water access has become impossible. In fact, as I speak to you, just below, downstairs from this building, people are fighting for water, there is a water truck that has just arrived.”
4. Wide shot: Speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.
5. SOUNDBITE (English) – Olga Cherevko, spokesperson in Gaza, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “I am seeing children and I’m seeing elderly people rummaging through these piles of trash not only in search of things to burn but also things to eat, daily. We are hearing reports from malnutrition colleagues that are saying, even yesterday, I was in a paediatric hospital here in Gaza City and they are all saying that malnutrition rates are going up.”
6. Wide shot: Speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.
7. SOUNDBITE (English) – Olga Cherevko, spokesperson in Gaza, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “Hospitals report running out of blood units, as mass casualties continue to arrive. Gaza is inching closer to running on empty as fuel also is being rationed to maintain only the most critical operations running.”
8. Close shot: Journalist in the Press room.
9. SOUNDBITE (English) – Olga Cherevko, spokesperson in Gaza, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “A friend of mine from Gaza City recalled recently a harrowing memory. He said to me, ‘I saw people burning a few days ago from the explosions and there was no water to save them.’ “
10. Medium shot: Journalist in the Press room.
11. SOUNDBITE (English) – Olga Cherevko, spokesperson in Gaza, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “We’re ready to resume delivery at scale as soon as the crossings reopen. We stand by our pledge to remain principled and continue relieving people’s suffering, wherever they may be.”
12. Wide shot: Speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.
13. OCHA footage - Driving footage from the streets of Gaza City, 1 MAY 2025
14. OCHA footage - Patient Friends Hospital in Gaza City, 1 MAY 2025
15. OCHA footage - Driving footage from the streets of Gaza City, 1 MAY 2025
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF , WHO
Two years of Gaza-Israel war bring ‘indescribable’ pain: UN humanitarians
Two years since the Hamas-led terror attacks on Israel, UN humanitarians on Tuesday reiterated calls for the release of all hostages in Gaza, an immediate ceasefire and an aid surge to alleviate Palestinians’ suffering, as talks on a US-driven peace plan continued in Egypt.
1
1
1
Edited News
Syria prison survivor seeks justice for the missing with UN backing.
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday warned that three and a half years after Russia’s full-scale invasion, the war in Ukraine has entered an even more dangerous and deadly stage for Ukrainian civilians, under relentless bombardment of their schools, hospitals, and shelters.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , WHO , ICRC
Quadcopter victims, terror and death: 30 minutes in a Gaza hospital
UN aid teams on Friday highlighted the disturbing situation in Gaza’s makeshift hospitals, where premature babies cry for scant oxygen and medics attempt to save child survivors targeted by airstrikes in their tents and quadcopter victims reportedly shot while fetching bread.
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.