The United Nations announced that there is no more aid available in Gaza to distribute, stating that the relief operation is “suffocated by the closure” of the crossings by Israel, while humanitarian workers on the ground reported that people are “sifting through garbage, trying to find something edible.”
This is what Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said in response to questions from journalists in Geneva on Tuesday, describing the “harsh, brutal, and inhumane reality” of the situation in Gaza.
Mr. Laerke said that the Humanitarian Country Team operating in the occupied Palestinian territory, which includes some 15 UN agencies and 200 non-governmental organizations, had received an oral briefing regarding the proposed Israeli plan to close the current aid system and deliver supplies through Israeli corridors under conditions set by the Israeli military.
The OCHA spokesperson confirmed that the United Nations “does not accept this proposal” because it falls short of the basic humanitarian principles of impartiality, neutrality, and independence in aid delivery. He said the Israeli plan “appears to be a deliberate attempt to weaponize aid,” emphasizing that aid must be provided based on humanitarian need, “and not used in any way as a tactic to move people to any specific location.”
