'We need to have free and unfettered humanitarian access,' says spokesman
The UN on Tuesday described the situation in the Gaza Strip as dire, despite the entry of some humanitarian aid trucks, and urged a constant flow of goods to alleviate the suffering of people under Israel's siege.
"The situation remains desperate. It remains dire. It remains dramatic," spokesman Stephane Dujarric said at a news conference.
"There are some trucks that came in, and we obviously welcome the arrival of new trucks that there were some through the Erez crossing. Of course, that's good, but it doesn't change the underlying issue, (which) is that we need to have a constant flow of goods," said Dujarric.
"We need to have free and unfettered humanitarian access. We need a cease-fire to be able to do the work on the scale of which is needed," he added.
Speaking at an earlier briefing, Scott Anderson, deputy humanitarian coordinator and director of United Nations Relief Works Agency (UNRWA) Affairs in Gaza, said most changes on the ground have not been positive for the people in Gaza.
He said there are 470,000 people in northern Gaza, where there has been an ongoing operation by the Israeli military, and of those, 65,000 have been further displaced.
"But there are still about 170,000 people in the north, primarily in Jabalia. They're very much trapped in the conflict, and for them, it's incredibly difficult," said Anderson.
He noted that there are 100,000 metric tons (110,231 tons) of food between the World Food Program and UNRWA waiting to be imported into Gaza.
"That's enough for everybody for three to four months. So, the supply is there and the willingness is there. The environment, unfortunately, is not there. We are coordinating closely with the IDF (Israeli military) to try to create an environment," he added.
Flouting a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire, Israel has continued a brutal offensive on Gaza following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, last October.
More than 42,400 people have since been killed, most of them women and children, and over 99,000 injured, according to local health authorities.
The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of Gaza amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.
