No UN aid convoys have reached northern Gaza since Jan. 23: Official

By Merve Aydogan

TORONTO, Canada (AA) - The UN on Tuesday pointed to the dire humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, saying that none of its humanitarian aid convoys had reached northern Gaza since Jan. 23.

UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) “colleagues remind us that none of our humanitarian convoys have been able to reach northern part of the Gaza Strip since January 23. As you heard yesterday from the commissioner general (Philippe Lazzarini), there's been a sharp decrease in the amount of delivery of aid into the Gaza Strip," Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, told a press briefing.

Stressing the need for more entry points and safe routes into Gaza, Dujarric said the UNRWA has food supplies at the border with Gaza that would be able to provide for up to 2.2 million people across the Gaza Strip.

"Almost 1,000 trucks carrying 15,000 metric tons of food are in Egypt ready to move," he added.

Israel launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip following an Oct. 7 Hamas attack, killing nearly 30,000 people and causing mass destruction and shortages of necessities, while nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.