By Janet Ekstract, NEW YORK – At a U.N. press briefing on June 3, spokesperson for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Stephane Dujarric underscored the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza and the UN. response to it. As Dujarric told the press, “The office at the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, yesterday and on June 3, granted us access to Kerem Shalom so our teams could reach additional humanitarian aid supplies.” Reporting on the state of managing to get supplies through, Dujarric said that “hygiene products or fuel have not been allowed in by Israeli authorities,” adding that “none of the supplies have been able to leave Kerem Shalom loading area” due to Israeli authorities’ regulations. Dujarric reiterated that Palestinians were being forced to “march” for miles to get food and humanitarian aid and said the “deprivation” is “so intense” that there is a high risk for looting and that looting of humanitarian aid was already occurring. He said that discussions are ongoing between U.N. colleagues and Israeli authorities to identify the best possible routes from Kerem Shalom to Gaza “to ensure the flow of aid is not disrupted or suspended.”
Meanwhile, Durjarric explained: “Our partners are in touch with community leaders in Gaza to mitigate the risk of looting and to make sure people who need supplies get them.” He reiterated that there are only “limited supplies” and that “much, much more aid needs to be delivered. Dujarric emphasized the situation is dire with “prolonged deprivation” in Gaza “over 11 weeks.” He said that the Gaza Ministry of Health reported dozens of people killed in the last 24 hours with The United Nations Office of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reporting that “80 percent of the Gaza Strip is now either subject to displacement orders or located in Israeli militarized zones.” OCHA also told the U.N. that this “requires humanitarians to coordinate their movements with Israeli authorities.” Dujarric remarked: “Our partners tell us over the past few days, that almost half of the newly displaced people have fled with none of their belongings. The ongoing displacement in Gaza is putting immense pressure on humanitarian teams especially when there is no food or any basic items being allowed in.”
Dujarric also said that in Gaza and Gaza City “our partners report an extreme lack of shelter space, displacement sites and residential buildings are all very much overcrowded with people settling in destroyed or damaged structures and some of them are sleeping out in the open.” Expressing the urgency of the situation, Dujarric added: “We’ve been saying over and over and over again, civilians need to be protected including those fleeing or those forced to leave through displacement order or those who remain in place despite the displacement orders.” There are “continuing attacks on health facilities” Dujarric underscored which he said are “ongoing” with Awada Hospital having been hit but still treating numerous patients and Kemal Adwan Hospital having “ceased operations” altogether. There is also disrupted access to drinking water for 150,000 people, Dujarric warned. He also said that in Southern Gaza in Al Mawasi that the “water situation is dire” and that no one is “connected to a water network that relies heavily on water trucking.” Dujarric sounded the alarm that U.N. “partners providing water, hygiene and sanitation services say water sanitation is worsening by the day.”
