Gaza faces critical fuel, aid shortages amid hampered access by Israel: UN

By Merve Aydogan

HAMILTON, Canada (AA) - Active hostilities and access limitations are causing critical shortages of fuel and aid in Gaza, said the UN on Monday, warning that supplies, particularly food, risk spoiling in the summer heat.

"Active hostilities damaged roads, access limitations and the lack of public order and safety continues to hamper movement along the main humanitarian cargo routes, Kerem Shalom crossing to Khan Younis and Deir al Balah," said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric during a press briefing.

"This has resulted in critical shortages of fuel and aid to sustain humanitarian operations. It is also increasing the risk that stranded supplies, especially food, will spoil in the very hot summer heat," he said.

"It is also increasing the risk that stranded supplies – especially food – will spoil in the summer heat," he added.

Dujarric further reported that UN special coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, arrived in Israel on Sunday for a three-day visit amid ongoing tensions.

"Discussions with Israeli officials are expected to focus on the need to restore calm and give space for diplomatic resolution that enables displaced civilians on both sides to return home," he said.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Palestinian group Hamas.

Over 38,000 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and nearly 88,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.

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

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