The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said late on Thursday that Israel is not allowing food and water into northern Gaza, leaving the entire population at “imminent risk of death”.
Stephanie Tremblay, a UN spokeswoman, told reporters that the only aid Israel has allowed in since the start of its latest military assault there a month ago is hospital supplies for medical evacuation missions, some of which has subsequently been destroyed by Israeli bombing.
Tremblay added that the military operations are preventing an estimated 75,000 to 95,000 Palestinians in northern Gaza Strip from obtaining basic supplies to ensure their survival.
“As the leaders of UN and humanitarian organisations, the Inter-Agency Standing Committee, stated a week ago, the entire population in North Gaza is at imminent risk of dying from disease, famine and violence,” Tremblay warned.
“The Israeli offensive is preventing Palestinians from accessing the essentials for their survival, including water,” she continued.
Tremblay noted that aid workers are “not safe to do their work and are blocked by Israeli forces from reaching people in need.”
Since dawn on Friday, at least 17 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli bombing, with 13 killed in the north alone.
The Israeli shelling and ground operations in the north of the Palestinian enclave are preventing humanitarian workers from reaching those in need.
Israel is also deliberately preventing aid from reaching Gaza, with the UN confirming that only 16 UNFPA trucks have made it to the Palestinian territory since the start of October.
Many analysts and rights groups claim that Israel’s assault on northern Gaza is modelled on the so-called ‘General’s Plan’, which is the deliberate emptying of the area of its civilian population by means of military assaults and starvation sieges.
