Aid Drop Off Gaza Beach Leads to Drownings, Local Authorities Say
Editor
26 March 2024 20:37 WIB
AID DELIVERY CRISIS
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged Israel to give an "ironclad commitment" for unfettered aid access into the Gaza Strip and described the number of trucks blocked at the border as "a moral outrage".
Israel says it puts no limit on the amount of humanitarian aid entering Gaza and blames problems in it reaching civilians within the enclave on U.N. agencies, which it says are inefficient.
Distribution of aid inside Gaza has been complicated, particularly in the north, and last month health authorities in Hamas-run Gaza said Israeli troops killed more than 100 people trying to take aid from a convoy.
Israel's military disputed that account, saying people who had rushed the convoy had died during a stampede or by being crushed by aid trucks.
It has banned UNRWA, the main U.N. agency working in Gaza which it accuses of complicity with Hamas, from carrying out aid deliveries to the north, UNRWA's head said on Sunday.
UNRWA denies it is complicit with Hamas and is awaiting the results of investigations into its handling of the accusations, which have led some donors to pause funding.
The U.N. humanitarian office urged Israel on Tuesday to revoke an apparent ban on food aid to north Gaza by UNRWA, saying people there were facing a "cruel death by famine".
UNRWA communications director Juliette Touma said the reported drownings showed the best way to deliver aid was by trucks run by aid agencies.
"These tragic reports coming from Gaza are yet another indication that the most efficient, fastest, safest way to reach people with much-needed humanitarian assistance is via road and via the humanitarian organizations including UNRWA who are working on the ground," Touma said.
REUTERS
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