At a UN Security Council briefing in New York on Tuesday, UN Middle East Peace Envoy Tor Vennesland said he had witnessed a “horrible humanitarian nightmare” during a recent visit to Gaza.
He said the north of the Palestinian territory had received little to no humanitarian aid since early October, when the Israeli military launched a ground offensive in the Jabalia area, which he said was aimed at stopping the regrouping of Hamas militants.
The operation killed scores of Palestinians, caused mass displacement, and led to the closure of essential services, including wells and medical facilities.
The US ambassador said reports of children going days without food in Jabalia made her think about how she saw the girl who starved to death nearly three decades ago.
Ms Thomas-Greenfield said the Biden administration had made it clear to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel must immediately address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and that the US “rejects any Israeli effort to starve Palestinians in Jabalia or anywhere else”.
“The US has made it clear that Israel must flow food, medicine and other supplies into all of Gaza – especially to the north, and especially as winter approaches – and protect the workers who distribute them,” she added.
Mr Danon told the Council that Israel was “working hard to deliver humanitarian aid”.
“The problem is not the flow of aid. It is Hamas that seizes the supplies, keeping or selling them to fuel its terror machine, while the civilian population of Gaza is ignored. Israel remains committed to working with our partners to deliver aid to those in need,” he added.
On Oct. 13, the Biden administration told Mr. Netanyahu’s government that Israel must take a series of concrete steps within 30 days to increase aid supplies, citing U.S. laws that can bar military aid to countries that obstruct the delivery of U.S. humanitarian aid.
They included allowing at least 350 trucks a day to pass through all Israeli-controlled crossings with Gaza and an immediate end to the “isolation” of the north.
According to data published by Unrwa, externalonly 852 aid trucks crossed Gaza this month, compared to about 3,000 trucks in September. A total of 502 trucks have entered since the letter, with an average of 35 trucks crossing each day from October 14 to 29.
Israel’s own figures, meanwhile, say a total of 1,386 trucks crossed between October 1 and 28, external – an average of 49 per day. It says 670 aid trucks are also expected from Gaza.
