This Thursday, the Secretary General of the multilateral organization, António Guterres, welcomed the movement of people and humanitarian aid through the Rafah border crossing.
This border crossing with Egypt was opened this week for about 80 sick and injured Palestinians in Gaza to receive treatment in the neighboring country, as well as several foreign passport holders and rotating United Nations staff.
“This is all an important step in the right direction that we have to build on,” emphasized Guterres’ spokesman Stéphane Dujarric.
Since aid deliveries resumed on October 21, humanitarian convoys carrying food, water and medicine have entered the Gaza Strip via Rafah, while fuel deliveries remain banned, the spokesman complained.
The United Nations remains committed to continuing our intensive work with all parties to alleviate the suffering of the most vulnerable people in Gaza, he stressed.
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said 227 trucks carrying water, food and medicine entered the Gaza Strip as of Thursday.
For its part, the United Nations Disaster Relief Agency (UNRWA) assured that around 690,000 Palestinians are seeking refuge in 149 facilities across the Gaza Strip.
This facility estimates that 160,000 people are staying in 57 emergency shelters in the northern part and Gaza City following the Israeli authorities’ evacuation order.
However, UNRWA warned that it could no longer provide services to displaced people in these areas.
The agency, the largest aid donor in Gaza, still needs $100 million for its operations this year, including paying the salaries of its Gaza staff.
jha/ebr