UNITED NATIONS, Oct 22 (APP): United Nations aid agencies say the first 20-truck convoy of assistance that reached Gaza on Saturday is \u201conly a small beginning and far from enough.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a joint statement, the agencies \u2014 UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the UN Children\u2019s Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO) \u2014 said more than 1.6 million people are in critical need of humanitarian aid the enclave battered by Israeli bombing raids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cVulnerable people are at greatest risk and children are dying at an alarming rate and being denied their right to protection, food, water and health care,\u201d the agencies said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGaza was a desperate humanitarian situation before the most recent hostilities. It is now catastrophic. The world must do more,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The aid that entered Gaza on Saturday \u201cis only a small beginning and far from enough\u201d, five UN agencies said in the joint statement. They called for a humanitarian ceasefire and safe access to civilians in efforts to save lives and prevent more suffering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hundreds of trucks are waiting at the border. Pakistan has also dispatched a plane-load of humanitarian assistance for Palestinian people in Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This \u201cfirst, but limited shipment\u201d will provide \u201can urgently needed lifeline to some of the hundreds of thousands of civilians, mostly women and children, who have been cut off from water, food, medicine, fuel and other essentials,\u201d the UN agencies said, \u201cbut it is only a small beginning and far from enough.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Their statement highlighted the immense needs in the wake of the Israel-Gaza crisis, which began on 7 October after Hamas militants launched attacks in Israel, killing scores and seizing more than 100 hostages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Israel responded with deadly air strikes and bombardment, a complete siege of Gaza, and ordered civilians to evacuate the northern part of the enclave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More than 1.6 million people in Gaza are in critical need of humanitarian aid, it was pointed out. Children make up nearly half the population are among the most vulnerable, along with pregnant women and elderly persons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Furthermore, two weeks of constant bombings have left much of the civilian infrastructure in Gaza damaged or destroy, including shelters, health facilities, water, sanitation, and electrical systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The agencies warned that \u201ctime is running out before mortality rates could skyrocket due to disease outbreaks and lack of healthcare capacity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gaza\u2019s hospitals are \u201coverwhelmed with casualties\u201d and people are facing mounting challenges accessing essential food supplies, they said. Health facilities no longer have fuel and are running on small amounts, which are expected to run out in the next day or so. Meanwhile, water production capacity is at five percent of normal levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPre-positioned humanitarian supplies have already been depleted. Vulnerable people are at greatest risk and children are dying at an alarming rate and being denied their right to protection, food, water and health care,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prior to the conflict, nearly one-third of the population of Palestine was food insecure. Today shops are running low on stocks, bakeries are closing, while tens of thousands are displaced and unable to cook or safely purchase food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The UN agencies called for a humanitarian ceasefire, along with immediate, unrestricted humanitarian access throughout Gaza to allow aid workers to reach civilians in need, save lives and prevent further human suffering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFlows of humanitarian aid must be at scale and sustained, and allow all Gazans to preserve their dignity,\u201d they said.
They appealed for safe and sustained access to water, food, health \u2013 including sexual and reproductive health \u2013 as well as fuel, and for the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure, including health facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe call for the protection of humanitarian workers in Gaza who are risking their lives in the service of others,\u201d they added. \u201cAnd we call for the utmost respect of international humanitarian law by all parties.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 22 (APP): United Nations aid agencies say the first 20-truck convoy of assistance that reached Gaza on Saturday is \u201conly a small beginning and far from enough.\u201d In a joint statement, the agencies \u2014 UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the UN Children\u2019s Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":7311,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[396,73],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest","category-security"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7310"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7310"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7310\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}