Tag Archives: humanitarian

UN humanitarian chief demands resumption of aid in Gaza

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No aid has entered the enclave since Israel implemented a ban on 2 March and the entire population, more than two million people, is at risk of famine.

“As we demonstrated during the ceasefire this year – and every time we’ve been granted access – the United Nations and our humanitarian partners have the expertise, resolve and moral clarity to deliver aid at the scale necessary to save lives across Gaza,” said Mr. Fletcher.

Ready to move

Those proposing an alternative modality for aid distribution should not waste time, he added, as a plan already exists.

The document is “rooted in the non-negotiable principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence.” Furthermore, it is backed by a coalition of donors, as well as most of the international community, and ready to be activated if humanitarians are allowed to do their jobs.

“We have the people. We have the distribution networks. We have the trust of the communities on the ground. And we have the aid itself – 160,000 pallets of it – ready to move. Now,” he said.

‘Let us work’

Mr. Fletcher reiterated that the humanitarian community has done this before and can do it again.

“We know how to get our aid supplies registered, scanned, inspected, loaded, offloaded, inspected again, loaded again, transported, stored, protected from looting, tracked, trucked, monitored and delivered – without diversion, without delay, and with dignity. We know how to reach civilians in desperate need and stave off famine.”

He concluded the statement by saying “Enough. We demand rapid, safe, and unimpeded aid delivery for civilians in need. Let us work.”

UN warns of growing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza

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In a statement released by the UN Humanitarian Country Team – which leads coordinated relief efforts across the Occupied Palestinian Territory – officials condemned Israeli efforts to dismantle the current aid system.

The team led by the UN’s top aid official in the region representing UN and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) both international and Palestinian, said Israeli plans would “contravene fundamental humanitarian principles” and deepen the suffering of civilians already enduring severe shortages of food, water, and medical care.

“Bakeries have shut. Community kitchens have closed. Warehouses stand empty. Children have gone hungry,” the statement said, describing the dire conditions facing the population.

The UN said Israeli authorities were attempting to impose a new aid distribution system that would funnel humanitarian supplies through military-controlled hubs, rather than allowing UN agencies and NGOs to operate independently.

‘Dangerous’ Israeli proposal

The proposal, the UN said, would leave “large parts of Gaza, including the less mobile and most vulnerable people,” without aid and would force civilians to enter militarised areas to access basic necessities.

“This is dangerous, driving civilians into militarised zones to collect rations, threatening lives, including those of humanitarian workers,” the UN said, warning it would also exacerbate forced displacement across the strip.

According to news reports, the Israeli government has defended the policy as a security measure. At the same time, Israeli forces are planning to ramp up operations in central and southern Gaza.

On Saturday, call up notices were reportedly issued to thousands of Israeli military reservists, indicating a likely escalation of the offensive inside the Strip.

Guiding principles

The UN statement reaffirmed that aid operations must remain guided by the principles of “humanity, impartiality, independence and neutrality” and said all 16 UN entities and major humanitarian partners working in Gaza had endorsed this unified position.

“Humanitarian action responds to people’s needs, wherever they are,” the team said.

UN teams remain on the ground, “ready to again scale up the delivery of critical supplies and services” once the blockade is lifted. They urged global leaders to intervene and pressure Israel to reopen border crossings immediately.

“The time is now,” the UN said.

In a social media post on Sunday, the UN aid agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, pointed out that nearly a third of essential supplies for civilians in the Gaza Strip are out of stock while another third are projected to run out in under two months.

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‘Season of war,’ as norms of humanitarian law ‘cast aside’ UN refugee chief

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Speaking in the UN Security Council, Filippo Grandi said in conflicts across the world in places like Sudan, Ukraine, Myanmar, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Haiti, “violence has become the currency of our age.”

Forcibly displaced people are among the first victims of war. Worldwide, some 123 million people have had to flee due to conflict.

Since the beginning of the war in Sudan, one-third of Sudan’s population has been displaced by indiscriminate violence, disease, starvation, flooding, droughts and sexual violence, “a situation that frankly defies description,” said Mr. Grandi.

In Ukraine, 10 million people have been displaced by the war, experiencing what he described as “terrible toll.” Seven million of them are now refugees, living outside the country.

“Stagnation has defined the response in Myanmar,” said the UN refugee chief. As a result, Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh have been living in camps entirely dependent on humanitarian aid for the past eight years.

Security and self-reliance

Refugees and displaced people will not return to their communities “unless they are confident that the terms of peace are durable, for them and for their country,” he added.

Promoting security and self-reliance is essential to ending humanitarian crises.

However, a return to peace requires compromise and commitment; peace cannot be made passively, said Mr. Grandi.

Reminding the 15 Members of the Security Council that preventing and stopping wars is their primary responsibility, he noted that it was one that “this body has chronically failed to live up to.”

Seizing opportunities

To achieve durable peace, the UN must be ready both to seize unexpected opportunities, and to take calculated risks, High Commissioner Grandi said adding that “there is now an opportunity to break this dangerous inertia.”

As over one million people have already returned to Syria since December 8, with many more expected to follow, the refugee chief urged the Security Council to ease sanctions to support early recovery efforts and spur investment.

“To minimise the risk that the returning Syrians are taking, I am asking you to take some risks yourselves,” he said.

Retrenchment away from aid

Despite the positive signs coming out of Syria, as well as Burundi and the Central African Republic, Mr. Grandi told the Council that “we see a retrenchment away from aid, away from multilateralism, even away from life-saving assistance,” adding that “we hear of prioritizing national interests, of boosting defense spending — all valid concerns of course, and legitimate state pursuits. But these are not incompatible with aid, quite the contrary.”

One way or another, forced displacement has concerned every member of the Security Council, Mr. Grandi pointed out.

“You have been the refugee. You have welcomed those who sought refuge,” he said reminding its members of their collective responsibility “to end war, to bring peace.”

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Gaza: UN official warns of ‘assault on dignity’ as blockade cripples humanitarian response

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Speaking to journalists in Gaza City, Jonathan Whittall, OCHA‘s local Head of Office, painted a dire picture of life under what he called a “total and complete blockade” now approaching its third month.

“The coming days in Gaza are going to be critical. Today people are not surviving in Gaza, those that aren’t being killed with bombs and bullets are slowly dying,” he said.

Whittall stressed that humanitarian agencies are unable to meet the soaring needs of civilians due to the collapse of supply lines. Hospitals are overwhelmed, but medicines and equipment are running out. People are going hungry, but food warehouses are empty and bakeries are closing. Clean water is desperately needed, but water wells are inaccessible.

He noted that solid waste is piling up in the streets with no equipment to remove it, and that rescue efforts after airstrikes are impossible without fuel and machinery. Displaced families are forced to live in rubble without shelter materials, and fishermen are being shot at sea, while humanitarian organisations lack the resources to assist them. “Nowhere in Gaza today is safe”, he said.

He added that children need to learn, but schools have been destroyed or are inaccessible, and that education supplies are not available. Prices of the remaining goods in Gaza continue to rise, but there is no cash available. There is no cooking gas or fuel, forcing families to burn trash to generate some energy.

“This is not only about humanitarian needs, but it’s about dignity. There is an assault on people’s dignity in Gaza today,” he warned.

“We also know that humanitarian workers, first responders, you as journalists, should be protected, like all civilians, but we’re being killed in a war that appears to be fought without any limits,” he added.

Whittall emphasised that the situation in Gaza does not even resemble a war. “People in Gaza are telling me that they feel like it’s the deliberate dismantling of Palestinian life in plain sight, for all to see, documented every day by you as journalists,” he said.

He described the devastation witnessed daily — including children’s bodies thrown by explosions, families burnt alive, and colleagues killed — as part of what he termed “everyday atrocities.”

“As humanitarians we can see that aid is being weaponised through its denial,” he warned. “There’s no justification for the denial of humanitarian assistance. And humanitarian aid should never be weaponised.”

Despite the catastrophic conditions, he stressed that humanitarian organisations are continuing to operate where possible, but “we have less and less and less supplies and less and less capacity to be able to meet the growing and growing needs that are intensifying across Gaza.”

“Lives depend on the blockade being lifted, on aid being allowed to enter into Gaza, on the ceasefire being reinstated,” he said, calling for real accountability rather than waiting for history to judge the international community’s response.

Hunger and malnutrition surging

In a separate statement, OCHA warned of a “severe decline” in food availability across Gaza, as malnutrition rates escalate rapidly, particularly among children.

A UN partner organisation recently screened around 1,300 children in northern Gaza and identified over 80 cases of acute malnutrition, representing more than double the rate recorded in previous weeks.

“Nutrition partners report a critical shortage of supplies due to the obstruction of aid entry and challenges in transporting essential materials within Gaza,” OCHA said. Access to key facilities, including UNICEF’s main warehouse in Rafah, remains heavily restricted.

Journalists who visited the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) main warehouses this week found them largely empty of food supplies, including flour.

Call for accountability and action

“Nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people,” UNRWA said in a separate statement, stressing that international law prohibits indiscriminate attacks, the obstruction of humanitarian assistance, and the destruction of vital civilian infrastructure.

The agency reiterated its call for a renewed ceasefire, the dignified release of all hostages, and the immediate, unhindered flow of humanitarian aid and commercial goods into Gaza.

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