Airdropping aid by parachute “is always a last resort when asked by a colleague (from the UN) who works in logistics because it is too expensive and not sustainable,” the head of the office said today. Andrea Di Domenico, OCHA’s chief in Palestine, at a press conference in New York, where she participated via video call.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohamed Shtayyeh today called on the UN and the European Union to “drop aid” from the air in the Gaza Strip in favor of civilians trapped by the war between Israel and Israel. and Hamas.
“The reality is that if the parties can agree on unhindered and continued access, there are ways to bring in aid. So I think the first point of entry should be to insist on opening the crossings. [de fronteira] Instead of thinking about extreme situations, make sure supplies last”, argued Domenico.
The chief of staff said he was aware that Jordan was already moving forward with this approach, providing aid by air, but stressed that “volumes are limited” and logistically, “it is very challenging.”
According to OCHA, 76 trucks from Egypt crossed into Gaza on Sunday, bringing the number of trucks that have entered the Palestinian territory since October 21 to 981.
According to the United Nations, around 2.4 million people are considered to be receiving insufficient humanitarian aid.
According to UN data, about 500 humanitarian aid trucks entered Gaza daily before the war between Israel and Hamas.
As of Tuesday, United Nations teams will not be able to unload the trucks because there is no fuel to run the machines needed for the process or to transport these loads to the places where they are needed. There are
The OCHA chief in occupied Palestine also recalled that communication with the enclave could be cut off Thursday after the Palestinian telecommunications service Paltel announced that it was forced to shut down service completely due to fuel shortages.
Domenico said there were no safe havens in Gaza, and he had received reports of arrests of people, particularly men, who tried to cross from the north to the south of the enclave, a supposedly safe area for Palestinian civilians.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric today described the situation in the Gaza Strip as “very dire” and noted that everything was “happening in plain sight”.
“We need access to take our fuel to UN facilities, desalination plants, health clinics… we don’t have to negotiate on fuel,” he stressed.
This morning, all UN offices around the world observed a minute of silence for the more than one hundred United Nations staff killed in Gaza.
At the United Nations headquarters in New York, the UN flag was flown at half-mast in tribute to staff members who died in the enclave.
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