Humanitarian aid entering Gaza reduced by half: UN agency

UNRWA chief says aid shipments to Gaza reduced by 50% in February compared to January

By Anadolu staff

ANKARA (AA) - Humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip dropped by half this month, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said Monday.

“Aid was supposed to increase not decrease to address the huge needs of 2 million Palestinians in desperate living conditions,” UNRWA's Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said in a statement.

“February registered a 50% reduction of humanitarian aid entering Gaza compared to January,” he added.

Lazzarini blamed the lack of political will, regular closing of the crossing points, insecurity due to Israeli military operations and the collapse of civil order for the aid reduction.

On Monday also, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that an all-out Israeli offensive in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians are sheltering, would put an end to the UN assistance programs.

"Rafah is the core of the humanitarian aid operation, and UNRWA is the backbone of that effort," Guterres told the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Tel Aviv plans a ground offensive in the southern city of Rafah, where 1.4 million people have taken refuge, despite international warnings and calls to avoid any such attack.

Israel has launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 cross-border incursion by Hamas, killing more than 29,782 people and causing mass destruction and shortages of necessities, while nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed.

The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85% of the territory's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara

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