Hunger and desperation are pushing people to accept humanitarian aid delivered to the Gaza Strip, the United Nations said on Thursday, warning of a “collapse of civil order.”
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“Everywhere we go, people are desperate, hungry and scared,” said Commissioner General of the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, during a press conference in Geneva on the sidelines of the United Nations Global Refugee Forum.
“We are on the verge of a possible implosion” in the Gaza Strip “as civil order is increasingly collapsing” due to the war sparked by Hamas’s unprecedented attack in Israel on October 7, he added.
Israel approved the establishment of an additional humanitarian aid checkpoint in Kerem Shalom before entering the Gaza Strip from Egypt through the Rafah crossing. And this, in order to increase the flow of products that fall under this framework in this area, is far from enough, according to the UN.
Rafah remains the only entry point into the Gaza Strip through which international organizations can provide assistance to the population, whose living conditions are catastrophic.
“The more insignificant the humanitarian aid remains compared to the immense needs, the longer this tension will last, the more impossible the situation will become,” Mr. Lazzarini claimed, repeating that he had seen Gaza residents stealing food from trucks transported with humanitarian aid and immediately eaten on the street.
“I have never heard of any of our trucks, both UN and UNRWA, being violently hijacked by Hamas,” he said in response to a question.
“Given this growing desperation, our operating environment is becoming increasingly difficult. At this point in time, in the absence of a ceasefire, the only way to remedy the situation (…) is to provide assistance on a large scale,” he said.
“Hunger is something that Gazans have never experienced before, but in recent weeks it has emerged,” he assured.
According to Israeli authorities, 1,200 people, mostly civilians, died and around 240 others were taken hostage in the Hamas attack from the Gaza Strip on Israeli soil on October 7th, according to Israeli authorities.
In retaliation, Israel carried out intensive bombing and a ground offensive that left nearly 18,800 Gazans dead, the majority of them civilians, according to the health ministry of this Hamas-controlled area.
In the Gaza Strip, “people feel like they are being abandoned by the international community,” assured Mr. Lazzarini, who said he was “shocked” by “the lack of empathy and humanity (…), although actually what is that “What is happening in Gaza should outrage everyone.”