Due to a prevailing insecurity condition, the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) has suspended the delivery of humanitarian assistance through the Israeli-held Kerem Shalom border crossing into the Gaza Strip.
“Currently, we have put on hold the delivery of aid through Kerem Shalom, the principal entry point for humanitarian aid into Gaza. This road has not been secure for months,” Lazzarini stated.
He stated that rifles from armed gangs ransacked an enormous aid convoy that had entered the territory last month. “Yesterday we tried to bring in a few food trucks along the same route. They were all taken,” Lazzarini said. “This is such a difficult decision at a time when hunger is quickly deepening. No delivery of humanitarian aid should ever be dangerous or should turn into an ordeal.”
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He also explained that humanitarian operations in Gaza are impossible due to Israel’s continual siege, restrictions, absence of safety, and dangerous targeting of the local police. “The responsibility of protection of aid workers and supplies is with the occupying power, namely, the State of Israel. They need to ensure safe flow of aid into the Gaza and stop attacks on humanitarian workers,” said Lazzarini. “Again, I request a cease-fire that must also include safe and uninterrupted delivery of aid to people in need.”
The destruction has been suffered because of the genocidal war launched against the Gaza Strip by Israel in retaliation against a border attack by Hamas in October of last year. Around 44,400 have died, mostly women and children. More than 105,000 have been injured.
This is the second year of genocide against the defenders of Gaza, becoming the focus of rising international condemnation as officials and institutions describe these attacks and blockades of aid as intentionally counteracting the existence of a population.