Assistance should be delivered to estimated 300,000-400,000 people stranded in north, says UN coordinator Lynn Hastings
Israel "clearly" opposes the delivery of humanitarian aid to northern Gaza where an estimated 300,000-400,000 people remain stranded, the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator in Palestine said on Friday.
“The government of Israel has been clear that they don't want us delivering (aid) in the north,” Lynn Hastings told a press briefing in Geneva virtually.
“So, our staff will have to assume certain security risks if we determine the assistance that we have to be lifesaving and needs to be delivered,” Hastings stressed.
She stated: "I've said it before that over a million people cannot just pick up and move to the south where there have been repeated bombings, there is no service delivery, there is no shelter there."
"We need to be able to deliver (assistance) to those people and we need to be able to deliver assistance to wherever people are in need," she urged.
Noting that the number of trucks that have entered the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7 totaled 74, she said that they're expecting to receive another eight or so today.
Between 10 and 20 trucks each day are clearly not sufficient, she said, adding that 450 trucks were going in daily before Oct. 7.
Hastings noted that before the conflict erupted, 46 trucks of fuel crossed daily. “I think that gives you some idea that 782 trucks would have crossed from Oct. 7 to date and none of those have come across with fuel.”
The conflict in Gaza began when the Palestinian group Hamas initiated Operation Al-Aqsa Flood – a multi-pronged surprise attack on Oct. 7 that included a barrage of rocket launches and infiltrations into Israel by land, sea, and air.
Hamas said the incursion was in retaliation for the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and growing violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians.
The Israeli military then launched a relentless bombardment of Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip.
Nearly 8,500 people have been killed in the conflict, including at least 7,028 Palestinians and 1,400 Israelis.
