Gaza: Aid access to north now entirely blocked amid escalating bombing raids in south

Gaza: Aid access to north now entirely blocked amid escalating bombing raids in south

The latest update from the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, confirmed rising casualties and devastation amid “heavy Israeli bombardment from air, land and sea”. “From the afternoon of (Saturday) 2 December to the afternoon of (Sunday) 3 December, at least 316 people were killed and at least another 664 injured in Gaza,” OCHA’s situation update…

Read More
Gaza: start of truce feeds hopes for respite, access to people in need: UN humanitarians

Gaza: start of truce feeds hopes for respite, access to people in need: UN humanitarians

They reiterated calls for access to all parts of the war-shattered enclave where the death toll inched towards 15,000 and many displaced people were sleeping in the streets. UN humanitarian affairs coordination office (OCHA) spokesperson Jens Laerke told reporters in Geneva that the hope regarding the agreement between Israel and Hamas announced earlier this week…

Read More
Israel-Palestine crisis: UN humanitarians plead for ‘access, access, access’

Israel-Palestine crisis: UN humanitarians plead for ‘access, access, access’

“Every day, you think it is the worst day and then the next day is worse,” UN health agency spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said, quoting a colleague in Gaza, which remains under almost complete blockade. “Access, access, access is necessary.” 160 children killed daily The level of death and suffering is “hard to fathom”, Mr. Lindmeier…

Read More
‘History is judging us all,’ Guterres says in fresh appeal for Gaza aid access

‘History is judging us all,’ Guterres says in fresh appeal for Gaza aid access

His call came just hours before UN agencies reported that phone lines, internet and mobile service in Gaza went down. “Gaza has lost contact with the outside world amid reports of intensified bombardment,” Lynn Hastings, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Palestine, wrote on X, formerly Twitter. The World Health Organization (WHO) has “lost…

Read More
From Cairo, Guterres appeals for ‘sustained’ humanitarian access to Gaza

From Cairo, Guterres appeals for ‘sustained’ humanitarian access to Gaza

“For nearly two weeks the people of Gaza have gone without any shipments of fuel, food, water, medicine, and other essentials. Disease is spreading. Supplies are dwindling. People are dying,” he said at a press conference in Cairo alongside Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry. Mr. Guterres is in the Middle East to witness UN preparations…

Read More
Gaza: 'History is watching' warns UN relief chief, saying aid access is key priority

Gaza: ‘History is watching’ warns UN relief chief, saying aid access is key priority

“History is watching,” Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths told UN News in Geneva, highlighting the desperate situation facing around one million Gazans uprooted in the last week, after the Israeli military warned of an imminent offensive following the deadly 7 October attacks on Israel by militant group Hamas, which has controlled the Gaza strip since…

Read More
World News in Brief: Health access in Israel-Palestine, Myanmar bombing, child refugee mental health

World News in Brief: Health access in Israel-Palestine, Myanmar bombing, child refugee mental health

“Over 1000 people have died and many more been injured following horrific acts of violence by Hamas on Saturday in Israel, and days of bombing by Israel in Gaza,” the WHO said  in a statement on Tuesday. The UN agency has offered assistance to health officials in both Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory.  …

Read More