The High Commissioner for Human Rights of the United Nations (UN), Volker Türk, today called for a significant and uninterrupted flow of aid to Gaza in the face of the catastrophic situation in the enclave.
The few trucks that have arrived since October 21 to Egypt are nothing more than crumbs that do not make a difference to two million people, he warned. A significant and uninterrupted flow of aid is needed, he added, calling for a humanitarian ceasefire to ensure that this aid reaches those who need it.
For her part, the spokesperson of the Human Rights Office, Ravina Shamdasani, lamented the sad testimonies of parents who wrote the names of their children on their arms to identify their remains.
Members of the ground staff warned of the dangers in the context where every night they check whether to sleep outside or inside the house, weighing the risks of dying from a falling roof or from shrapnel.
The representative of the UN World Food Program in Palestine, Samer Abdeljaber, described the situation as a nightmare from which there is no way to wake up.
The dire conditions in the shelters designated by the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees almost triple their capacity, he said.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that at least 94,000 liters of fuel per day are needed to “maintain critical functions” in Gaza’s 12 major hospitals.
Two of the three hospitals in the enclave are “partially functional,” said the WHO representative in Palestine, Richard Peeperkorn.
The lack of energy and medical supplies put at risk a thousand kidney patients who need dialysis, 130 premature babies in incubators, two thousand cancer patients and many others. of ventilators in intensive care units, Peeperkorn emphasized.
The 74 aid trucks that have arrived through the Rafah crossing since October 21, and another eight expected to arrive today, are a pittance compared to the 450 trucks that entered Gaza every day before the crisis. “They are a drop in the ocean,” he said.
