WHO: Relief in Gaza ‘Too Little, too Late’
Sudan Events – Sumaya Sayed
With no let-up in fighting across Gaza, the UN health agency pleaded on Tuesday for better access across the enclave, where relief is arriving “too little, too late” to help civilians caught up in the ongoing conflict.
Humanitarian assistance – and particularly food – is desperately needed across Gaza, particularly in northern areas, Mr. Casey said.
“The food situation in the north is absolutely horrific, there’s almost no food available,” he told journalists in Geneva via video. “Everybody we talk to begs for food and comes up and asks, ‘Where, where’s the food?’ People help us get our medical supplies through. But they are constantly telling us that we need to come back with food.”
Echoing that appeal and expressing concerns about intensifying hostilities in the south, Dr Rik Peeperkorn, WHO Representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, explained that moving staff and supplies “safely and swiftly” had been compromised, “as deconfliction is required for any moves across Gaza, including the south – often leading to delays”.
In addition to getting more essential supplies into Gaza, what was also needed urgently was easier movement of humanitarian aid and workers within the enclave, “so that we can reach people wherever they are”, Dr Peeperkorn explained.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 23,084 people have been killed in the enclave of whom 70 per cent were women and children. Nearly 59,000 people have also been injured, which is approximately 2.7 per cent of Gaza’s population.
