UN and 200 aid agencies warn humanitarian activities in Gaza risk complete collapse.
According to the official website of the United Nations, the organization, along with more than 200 international aid agencies, warned in a joint statement that humanitarian activities in Palestine, especially the Gaza Strip, are on the verge of complete collapse and that the continuation of the restrictions imposed by the Zionist regime has severely disrupted the provision of vital services to Palestinian residents.
In this statement, humanitarian aid groups, including senior UN officials and hundreds of local and international aid organizations, called on the international community to urgently pressure the Zionist regime to lift measures preventing humanitarian activities.
The United Nations and international aid agencies also emphasized that the Zionist regime must remove all existing obstacles, including the politically biased registration process for receiving aid from aid organizations, to allow the continuation of humanitarian assistance without hindrance; an issue that, according to aid agencies, is ambiguous, unenforceable, and contrary to humanitarian principles.
According to the new rules that the Israeli regime has considered, dozens of aid organizations will face cancellation of their registration by the end of December, and if this decision is implemented, many of them will be forced to completely stop their activities within a few weeks.
This warning is issued at a time when millions of dollars in food, medicine, and relief equipment are stuck behind crossings due to the restrictions of the Israeli regime and have not yet reached the Palestinians. The UN has emphasized that “humanitarian access is a legal obligation, not a ‘political choice” and has called for the immediate removal of obstacles and allowing unhindered entry of aid.
At the same time, according to the Palestinian Information Center, the Islamic resistance movement Hamas also responded to this statement by stating that Israel’s policies have “seriously jeopardized humanitarian operations in Gaza” and that the UN’s warning about the possibility of canceling the activities of dozens of aid organizations requires immediate action by the international community.
Hamas stressed that the criminal Zionist regime led by Benjamin Netanyahu has systematically deepened the suffering of the people of Gaza by intensifying the siege, using humanitarian aid as a tool, and depriving civilians of their most basic rights, and that these actions are a continuation of the genocide against Gaza in various forms.
The statement continued by stating that these policies are a clear violation of the ceasefire agreement signed with the mediation of the United States; an agreement that has so far been accompanied by hundreds of field violations by Israel and has led to the martyrdom of hundreds of Palestinians as a result of direct military attacks or disruptions in the process of providing aid and settling refugees.
Finally, Hamas called on the US government and the mediators guarantor of the ceasefire agreement, to intervene immediately, guarantee the full implementation of this agreement, prevent the continuation of the repeated violations by the Zionist regime, and oblige this regime to fulfill its humanitarian and relief obligations, including facilitating the activities of international relief organizations.
Meanwhile, Hazem Qassem, spokesman for the Islamic resistance movement Hamas, considered the deaths of children due to extreme cold a major crime of the Zionist regime, which is occurring as a result of the continuation of the siege and the prevention of the Zionist occupiers from rebuilding and providing proper shelter after the genocide in Gaza.
He added that the presence of refugees, especially children, in tents and the lack of proper housing facilities and heating equipment are the main factors in these human tragedies, and despite all the calls for the entry of prefabricated houses and the start of reconstruction, the international community has not taken serious action to save the children of Gaza.
Pointing out that the children of Gaza used to die under the Zionist bombardment and are now victims of the cold, Qassem called for immediate and real action by the international community to prevent the escalation of the crisis and the occurrence of mass deaths.
He also called on the US government to pressure the Zionist regime to adhere to its ceasefire commitments, the entry of humanitarian aid, the real settlement, and the opening of crossings.
Gaza Health Ministry announced on Thursday that a one-month-old baby named Saeed Asaad Abedin died due to a severe drop in body temperature caused by extreme cold. The Gaza Health Ministry reported that 13 people have died due to extreme cold so far.
This situation continues while the Israeli regime has prevented the implementation of its commitments under the ceasefire, including the entry of shelter materials and 300,000 tents and prefabricated houses into Gaza.