“The military offensive in northern Gaza is choking off people’s access to the essentials for their survival, including water”.
The Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, Farhan Haq warned on Thursday of the devastating situation in Gaza amidst Israel’s raging war Israel against the Strip and its people.
Quoting the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Haq said that the ongoing Israeli military operation in the north of Gaza “are putting tens of thousands of civilians in grave danger,” reiterating the need to protect civilians.
“Moreover, the military offensive in northern Gaza is also choking off people’s access to the essentials for their survival, including water,” he added.
The UN spokesperson informed reporters that the UN is exerting utmost efforts to provide access to water throughout the Strip.
“As of a week ago, they reported that 638 cubic meters of water were being distributed in [North Gaza Governorate] on a daily basis through water trucking. For your reference, daily water distribution throughout all of Gaza prior to October 2023 was 380,000 cubic meters,” Haq revealed.
As for Central Gaza, Haq said in the press briefing that the UN is working along with its partners to “support water, sanitation and hygiene services” in preparation for the winter season by taking urgent and needed measures to ease the risk of flooding.
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Polio Vaccination Campaign
The deputy spokesperson announced that the second round of the Polio vaccination campaign in central Gaza is underway by the World Health Organization (WHO).
WHO reported that over 181,000 children are receiving the vaccine and over 148,000 children are getting vitamin A supplements.
Haq said quoting WHO that “eight health facilities in central Gaza will continue to provide polio vaccines for families who were unable to bring their children to be vaccinated over the past three days.”
He announced that the second round of the polio vaccination campaign in Southern Gaza is expected to start today.
West Bank Violence
The UN official also touched on the escalating violence by the Jewish illegal settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank highlighting its grave consequences on the local population.
“Israeli settler violence in the context of the ongoing olive harvest season is threatening people’s safety and livelihoods,” OCHA was quoted as saying by the Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, Farhan Haq, in his daily briefing.
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Haq told reporters that the UN organization has documented at least 32 attacks since the start of October, by illegal Jewish settlers against the Palestinian population in the occupied West Bank.
“39 Palestinians harvesting olives were injured and about 600 trees and saplings were vandalized, sawn off, or stolen,” Haq said quoting OCHA in the press brief.
The deputy spokesperson stated that OCHA is conducting initial assessment of the damages to inform its partners and the various UN agencies in order to provide the needed support for the local Palestinian population, Anadolu news agency reported.
Genocide Continues
Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza.
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 42,438 Palestinians have been killed, and 99,246 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7, 2023.
Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.
(PC, Anadolu)
