The scale of Gaza's humanitarian crisis and the challenges faced by aid workers responding to it “exceeds anything previously seen” in other conflicts, the United Nations announced Wednesday.
The costs of dealing with it can be significant as well.
The United Nations said more than $2.8 billion from donors will be needed for UN agencies and other aid groups to continue responding to Gaza's humanitarian crisis by the end of the year.
“Widespread destruction. Multiple mass displacements. Looming famine. Health systems have collapsed,” the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement. “For the people of this country, every day is a struggle for survival. GazaAs the war rages on and the need deepens. ”
The $2.8 billion demand is only a fraction of the total amount the United Nations estimates will cost $4.089 billion to respond to the crisis. Most of the requested funds ($2.5 billion) will go to relief efforts in Gaza, but a smaller amount ($297.6 million) will go to the West Bank, where violence has been escalating for months.
The United Nations has scaled back its funding request to $2.8 billion, which is needed to pay only for operations deemed achievable within the next nine months, but in the meantime “many of the current security concerns and access restrictions It was assumed that this would continue.
The war in Gaza began after a Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, which Israeli officials said killed about 1,200 people. Since then, the distribution of aid to Gaza has been hampered by a series of restrictions and risks.
More than 200 aid workers have been killed in the conflict, the majority of them Palestinians from Gaza, according to UN Secretary-General António Guterres. Earlier this month, seven World Central Kitchen aid workers, including six foreigners, were killed in a series of air strikes on their convoy.
Their deaths sparked an international outcry, led to an internal investigation by the Israeli military, and those responsible for the attack were reprimanded and their killings said to have been a mistake.
During the early months of the war, Israel imposed a near-total blockade on supplies entering the Gaza Strip, including humanitarian aid. Although he ultimately relented, he insisted that all cargo entering the country be carefully inspected, and banned a wide range of items, including scissors, from being brought into the country, citing the possibility of military use.
Aid groups said the entire truck carrying aid was rejected by Israeli inspectors because a single item in the vehicle was determined to have potential military use. In some cases, the group is not told what the item was or why it was rejected.
Israel also accuses Hamas of diverting aid. But U.S. officials, including U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Samantha Power and U.S. Special Envoy for Middle East Humanitarian Affairs David Satterfield, said there was no evidence for that claim.
The UN urges Israel to ensure safe access for aid workers to people in need, increase the number of entry points and safe roads for humanitarian supplies, and improve the ability of aid workers to move safely. , called for improved conditions for aid delivery. In Gaza.
In recent weeks, Israel has been keen to show that more aid is flowing into Gaza, and also keen to blame the United Nations for delays in distributing aid.
Israel announced this week that 553 aid trucks passed through the Kerem Shalom and Nitzana border crossings, and 126 trucks were allowed to move from southern Gaza to northern Gaza.
