UN officials told the Guardian on Wednesday afternoon that their warehouses were now completely empty south of the river dividing the northern third of the Gaza from the south, with no likelihood of resupply as long as the main entry points into the territory remain closed after Israeli offensives launched in recent days.
“There are no tents in humanitarian warehouses. There are also no stocks of food left with World Food Programme or Unrwa [the UN agency for Palestinian refugees] south of the [river]. What people have had distributed to them, or what remains on the market, is all that’s left, and we expect that that will be finished soon,” said Georgios Petropoulos, head of the Gaza sub-office of UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs. “Time is running out to get a sustainable crossing open for predictable humanitarian supplies into southern Gaza.”
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Hundreds of thousands in Gaza have been forced to flee homes or temporary shelters by recent fighting.
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The war began when Hamas attacked southern Israel on 7 October, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking another 250 hostage. They still hold about 100 captives and the remains of more than 30, and internationally mediated talks over a ceasefire and hostage release appear to be at a standstill.
The Israeli offensive has brought massive destruction, the displacement of about 2 million people and the deaths of about 35,000, mostly women and children, according to local Palestinian health officials.
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More than 600,000 people have fled Rafah, according to the latest UN estimates, complying with instructions issued by Israeli military, which launched a long-threatened invasion of the city last week.
Another 100,000 people in the north have followed similar Israeli instructions to evacuate their homes or shelters
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All were told to move to a designated “expanded humanitarian zone” along Gaza’s southern coast where almost no provision has been made for shelter or food distribution. Medicals and aid officials describe “horrific and dehumanising conditions” in the zone, with acute shortages of shelter, water, food and sanitation.
Aid officials said 54 trucks had entered Gaza via the northern Erez crossing on Tuesday, and their cargos would allow some distribution in northern Gaza. But it is estimated that about 500 truckloads are needed to supply the essential needs of Gaza’s 2.3m population.
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Unrwa has been the target of fierce criticism by Israel, which accuses the agency of cooperating with Hamas in Gaza and has called for it to be disbanded. The agency strongly denies the accusations.
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There have been weekly protests by Israeli settlers and rightwing activists outside the headquarters of Unrwa in East Jerusalem, calling for its closure, with two apparent attempts to set the complex alight, the most recent on Monday.
Gaza
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