UN wants humanitarian corridor in Gaza

By Serife Cetin and Iclal Turan

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (AA) - The UN wants to see a humanitarian corridor in the Gaza Strip as Israeli airstrikes resulted in displacing 263,000 people.

“We want to see a humanitarian corridor,” spokesman Stéphane Dujarric responded in a news conference to Anadolu’s question about if the UN is working on a humanitarian corridor.

He said UN Special Coordinator Tor Wennesland and United Nations Relief Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini were in Cairo to discuss the issue.

“We were very pleased to see the decision by the Egyptian government, which we hope will lead because more steps need to be taken to humanitarian aid being able to get into Gaza,” he said.

Egypt said Wednesday it is eager to keep the Rafah crossing with the Gaza Strip open to humanitarian aid delivery to the territory.

"Our Palestinian brothers are enduring immense hardships due to the lack of basic services amidst the ongoing Israeli bombardment,” Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said at a joint news conference in Cairo with his Italian counterpart, Antonio Tajani.

The Rafah crossing is the only terminal between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.

Dujarric said the UN is “very worried” about the supplies of water and fuel, and the ability of people to leave.

The number displaced across Gaza has topped 263,000, an increase of 40% since Tuesday, he said, citing the Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) figures.

Asked about the possibility of mass exodus, Dujarric said he “cannot look into the future.”

He said the UN is working with a number of parties.

“Civilians need to be protected,”​​​​​​​ he said. “We do not want to see a mass exodus of Gazans and many of them who have already been displaced from other parts,” he added.