UN aid workers said on Wednesday that they are still waiting for permission from Israel to distribute five trucks' worth of lifesaving relief that was allowed into Gaza at the start of the week, after an 11-week blockade.
Existing supplies of basic necessities have been running dangerously low and on Wednesday the UN Children's Fund, UNICEF , said that its nutrition stocks to prevent increasing malnutrition "are almost gone".
"Humanitarian assistance is being weaponised to serve and support political and military objectives," said Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA .
Speaking at the European Humanitarian Forum, Mr. Lazzarini insisted that significant stocks of aid remain blocked at the enclave's borders.
"UNRWA is a lifeline for people in face of immense needs," he said, noting that the whole humanitarian community in Gaza remains ready to scale up the delivery of critical supplies and services.
The development comes a day after UN humanitarians said that they had been allowed to send "around 100" more aid trucks loaded with supplies into Gaza.
Too little, too late
While such a move would be welcome in light of the desperate humanitarian emergency created by Israel's total blockade, relief teams have pointed out that this would be a fraction of the 500 trucks that entered the enclave every day before the war erupted in Gaza in October 2023.
Today, one in five Gazans faces starvation, according to respected food security experts from the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification platform - or IPC.
UN agencies have repeatedly stressed that they have stockpiles of relief supplies ready to enter Gaza.
West Bank demolitions crisis
In the occupied West Bank, meanwhile, further demolitions of Palestinian buildings were reported on Monday and Tuesday, in Beit Sahur, Shu'fat and Nahhalin.
Since the start of the year, Israeli settlers have damaged water infrastructure in the West Bank more than 60 times, according to OCHA . It noted that herding communities have been impacted most severely.
More to come…
