United Nations, Sep 18 (IANS) UN humanitarians said that for the first time in four weeks, they were able to reach Northern Gaza, leading an inter-agency assessment mission to Gaza City.
However, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Tuesday said it was only able to reach the north by waiting for more than five hours before and at an Israeli checkpoint on the Coastal Road.
Access to the north remains extremely limited for aid workers from the United Nations and beyond, reports Xinhua news agency.
OCHA said that during the first half of the month, out of nearly 50 missions led by seven different UN agencies — all of which were fully coordinated with the Israeli authorities — only a quarter could cross into the north through the Israeli checkpoints along Wadi Gaza.
“Even when these missions could cross, they often faced impediments along the way, with some convoys stopped at gunpoint, shot at, or forced to wait for hours in the middle of a war zone,” the office said. “These incidents posed unacceptable risks to our staff’s safety and prevented these missions from completing their life-saving work.”
OCHA said 20 missions were denied access before they even hit the road. Only two of the nearly 50 missions were fully facilitated as required.
The office said that when humanitarian missions in Gaza are not facilitated, it deprives Palestinians of the food, water, shelter, health and other services essential for their survival.
“People in Gaza need more supplies, including items as basic as soap, to enter the (Gaza) Strip,” OCHA said. “It is also critical that these humanitarian goods and services are able to reach all parts of Gaza, wherever they are needed. Without exception, security assurances provided to aid organisations and humanitarian missions must be reliable and fully respected.”
–IANS
int/sd/
Disclaimer
The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by TodayIndia.news and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.
Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of TodayIndia.news We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, TodayIndia.news takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.
For any legal details or query please visit original source link given with news or click on Go to Source.
Our translation service aims to offer the most accurate translation possible and we rarely experience any issues with news post. However, as the translation is carried out by third part tool there is a possibility for error to cause the occasional inaccuracy. We therefore require you to accept this disclaimer before confirming any translation news with us.
If you are not willing to accept this disclaimer then we recommend reading news post in its original language.
