The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Tuesday once again issued an urgent appeal for aid to hospitals in the besieged and devastated Gaza Strip after 14 months of war, especially in the north, as Israeli attacks continue to be reported. army against clinics or in the areas where they are located.
The appeal, made on Christmas Eve, concerns in particular deliveries of food, water and fuel.
In Gaza City (north), there are only three ventilators left in operation for children who need urgent medical attention, according to UNICEF.
The situation at Kamal Atwan and Al Awda hospitals, as well as the Indonesian hospital — all three in the north — has worsened since Sunday, when the Israeli military announced it had conducted a “limited” operation against Hamas’ military wing in the area where the third.
OCHA recalled that northern Gaza has remained under an almost total siege since October and added that, since December 1, Israeli authorities have rejected 48 of 52 UN requests to allow access to its agencies to deliver humanitarian aid.
The new head of OCHA, Tom Fletcher, reported this week that there was a “breakdown” in law enforcement in the Palestinian enclave and aid shipments were increasingly being looted by gangs.
Israeli authorities claim that there is plenty of humanitarian aid available, but UN agencies and non-governmental organizations are not distributing it effectively.
From the point of view of international law, the Gaza Strip is considered an area occupied by the Israeli army and therefore it is the Israeli authorities who are responsible for enforcing order.
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