OCHA condemns increasing difficulties in delivering aid to the northern Strip

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the Israeli authorities have repeatedly denied access for aid deliveries and medical supplies to the hospitals and facilities in the north, causing severe humanitarian consequences for the civilians living there12.

OCHA’s head of office in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Andrea De Domenicom, said that the operations in the north have become increasingly more complicated due to the systematic refusal from the Israeli side of their effort to get there, to access the north1.

He also said that the denial of support to hospitals was reaching a level of inhumanity that was beyond comprehension2.

The World Health Organization (WHO) also reported that they were able to reach Al-Shifa hospital in northern Gaza and deliver fuel and medical supplies to cover 1000 trauma and 100 kidney dialysis patients, after more than two weeks of requests2.

The WHO said that 15 out of Gaza’s 36 hospitals remain partially functional, and that the UN and health partners have provided healthcare and medical services to an estimated 500,000 people since the start of hostilities2.

The hostilities between Israel and Palestinian armed groups have intensified in the past 24 hours, with reports of intense Israeli bombardment from the air, land and sea, and rocket fire into Israel by the militants2.

The Gazan health authorities estimated that 126 Palestinians were killed and 241 injured between the afternoons of 8 and 9 January, bringing the total number of fatalities to at least 23,210 Palestinians killed and 59,167 injured since 7 October2. The Israeli authorities estimate that about 136 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza2.