UN says Israel in January blocked majority of aid deliveries bound for northern Gaza

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - Israel last month denied access to well over half of all humanitarian aid deliveries bound for northern Gaza, the UN said Monday.

"For the month of January as a whole, only 10 of the 61 humanitarian aid missions planned for the north of Wadi Gaza were facilitated by the Israeli authorities," spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters at the UN's New York headquarters, referring to the landmark roughly demarcating the northern strip from the south.

Of the remaining 51 deliveries, two were allowed in on a partial basis, 34 were denied access altogether, and six others were postponed by aid groups "due to internal operational issues," Dujarric added. It is unclear what happened to the remaining deliveries.

Most of the aid missions that were allowed in contained food support for the besieged area. Missions that were aimed at supporting northern Gaza's hospitals, water sanitation facilities and other hygiene services "remain largely denied," Dujarric said.

Just 13 of Gaza's 36 hospitals remain functional, and those that are operating are doing so on a partial basis, according to data from the World Health Organization.

Dujarric said Sigrid Kaag, the UN's humanitarian coordinator for Gaza, discussed the establishment of "a possible maritime corridor to Gaza" during just-concluded meetings in the Greek Cypriot administration. No additional details were immediately available.

At least 27,478 Palestinians have been killed and 66,835 others injured in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip since Israel began its war on the coastal enclave nearly four months ago, according to statistics from Gaza's Health Ministry.

The war has led to widespread devastation in Gaza amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine as Israel continues to restrict aid deliveries.

Israel launched its deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip in retaliation for Hamas' Oct. 7 cross-border attack in which Tel Aviv says roughly 1,200 were killed.