Amid Israel's offensive, humanitarian assistance 'never been near enough' meeting needs of Gazans: UN

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

GENEVA (AA) - The UN humanitarian office (OCHA) on Tuesday said that since last Oct. 7, when the current conflict in Gaza began, humanitarian assistance has "never been near enough" to meet the Gazan people’s needs.

"We try to measure and quantify that suffering with figures: the total number of displaced, the liters of water they get per day, the truckloads of aid that cross in every week," Yasmina Guerda, a humanitarian affairs officer from OCHA, told a UN press briefing in Geneva after returning from three months in Gaza.

"No matter the numbers, it’s never been near enough to meet the food, shelter, health, and other needs of a population that has lost nearly everything – their jobs, their roofs, their clothes, access to their bank accounts, access to privacy," Guerda said.

She stressed that it would be unwise to discuss the living conditions of Gazans as "none of them have living conditions."

"What they have is survival conditions. And barely. They’re holding on by a thread," she said.

She underlined that the humanitarian space was "reduced dramatically," and delivery of aid was "hampered" following the start of Israel’s offensive on the southern refuge city of Rafah last month.

In most humanitarian crises, displaced people could eventually find some sort of safety, but the past nine months have confirmed "there is no safe corner" in Gaza, said Guerda.

"And in most humanitarian responses, displaced people could eventually access reliable humanitarian support," she said. "But delivering aid in Gaza is a daily puzzle."

She also praised the strength of people in Gaza, saying: "Civilians in Gaza are not weak people. They are far from helpless."

"They need decision-makers to finally make a decisive gesture to put an end to the relentless way in which they are being knocked down after every attempt to get back up," she said. "And they need the support of the rest of the world to do that."

Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack last year by Hamas.

More than 37,600 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and over 86,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.

More than eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.​​​​​​​