UN humanitarian office notes vital importance of large-scale land aid deliveries for Gaza

By Merve Aydogan

HAMILTON, Canada (AA) - The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) emphasized Thursday the importance of large-scale land deliveries of humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip.

OCHA warned that "There's no alternative to large-scale deliveries of aid by land in Gaza," on X.

Stressing that "swift, safe and unimpeded humanitarian passage through all crossings is paramount," said OCHA. "Time is of the essence."

The UN agency noted that "security challenges, access constraints and other limitations persist" while showing a map of the Gaza Strip that displayed restrictions for aid access.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Palestinian enclave since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by Hamas in which some 1,200 Israelis were killed.

Nearly 32,500 Palestinians have since been killed and more than 74,900 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war, now in day 174, 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 is 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.