By Nour Abu Eisha
GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) – The UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) has termed humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip as “catastrophic” amid a severe shortage of food supplies.
“Living conditions in the Gaza Strip are catastrophic, particularly in northern Gaza and Gaza City,” Inas Hamdan, acting public information officer in Gaza, told Anadolu on Thursday.
"The least that can be said is that the situation is very tragic,” she said. “Basic foodstuffs such as flour and rice are not available, and the residents there already do not find enough to satisfy their hunger."
Hamdan warned that the situation is likely to aggravate amid a severe food shortage.
"It will lead to more health problems in the absence of appropriate living conditions,” she said.
The UNRWA official lamented that Israeli restrictions impede aid deliveries to Gaza City and northern Gaza.
“There is an urgent need to send more humanitarian and relief aid such as medicine and blankets amid these freezing conditions,” Hamdan said.
She said that two UNRWA aid convoys came under fire while returning from northern Gaza to southern Gaza, without providing any details.
“This is unacceptable, as humanitarian teams seeking to deliver aid to the displaced must be protected,” Hamdan said.
“Access to humanitarian aid must be allowed and in good quantities,” she added.
At least 20 Palestinians were killed and 150 others injured in Israeli shelling targeting hungry people waiting for humanitarian aid in Gaza City on Thursday, according to the Health Ministry.
Israel has imposed a crippling siege on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, leaving the territory’s population struggling with catastrophic humanitarian conditions.
On Jan. 2, UNRWA announced the entry of humanitarian aid into northern Gaza for the first time since the end of a weeklong humanitarian pause on Dec. 27.
UNRWA spokesman Adnan Abu Hasna said that five to seven aid trucks entered into northern Gaza daily.
“This aid does not suffice the needs of the population of northern Gaza,” he told Anadolu. “Tens of thousands are starving there.”
Israel launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, killing at least 25,700 Palestinians and injuring 63,740. Nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.
The Israeli offensive has left 85% of Gaza’s population internally displaced 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.