Aid reaches one million people in Gaza, and reports of continuing attacks in the West Bank

At the press conference of the United Nations agencies in Geneva on Tuesday, Abeer Atifa, the program’s regional communications officer, provided an update on the latest developments in operations in Gaza, stating that the program has 44 active food distribution points throughout Gaza, but the goal is to provide 145 distribution points.

Atifa said: “Due to limited supplies, each family received a reduced share of one food parcel that would last for ten days.”.

About 700,000 people receive fresh bread daily through 17 bakeries supported by the program, nine of which are in southern and central Gaza and eight in the north.

Atifa said: “More than 150,000 pregnant and lactating women, as well as children under five, received essential nutritional supplements in October. This represents almost half of the World Food Programme’s target.”.

Access challenges

The World Food Program official spoke about the challenges of access, noting that there are only two border crossings operating. “This severely limits the amount of assistance that WFP and other agencies can provide to stabilize markets and meet people’s needs.”.

She explained that “Delivering food to the north is still difficult.”She added that the continued closure of the northern crossings leading to the Gaza Strip is one of the most important obstacles. She said that aid convoys are forced to follow a slow and difficult route from the south.

She also noted that the damage to infrastructure during the conflict severely affected food storage, with more than 50% of it destroyed.

Fragile hope

From Gaza, Nour Hammad, communications officer at the World Food Programme, spoke about the situation on the ground and how – despite the horrific scenes – she witnessed “Joy” On people’s faces that the sounds of guns fell silent, and“the fear” That this silence does not continue.

She said she had met families who had been displaced more than 15 times and were now returning to the ruins of their homes, and how they were concerned about securing food.

added: “At every distribution point I visited across the Gaza Strip over the past two days, people told me one thing: this aid is important.”.

Hammad said that when she meets people on the ground in Gaza “They talk about holding on to a fleeting glimmer of hope. But there is a lot of uncertainty. This uncertainty continues to affect their lives.”. She added that “The hope born with the ceasefire is very fragile, and the needs are still enormous.”.

She gave the example of a woman she met in Gaza who told her that even though she was receiving help, she was asking her children not to eat everything they had right away because she was not sure that she would be able to bring them food tomorrow.

She said: “Families invite us into their tents, exhausted from the cold of winter and the heat of summer, and they want to show us the truth. Their truth is that people need food, shelter and warm clothes because winter is coming, and they need constant support.”.

Psychological and social support

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that more than 300 children joined protection and rights awareness sessions on Monday, while more than 100 adolescents and caregivers received psychological and social support.

Another 300 children participated in organized educational activities, while children with disabilities received rehabilitative support. About 775 at-risk children and their families were referred for additional assistance.

The office said that more than 700 women and girls participated in psychological and social support sessions and first aid sessions in the areas of Khan Yunis, Deir Al-Balah, Al-Nuseirat, and Al-Mawasi. Another 500 women in Deir al-Balah and Al-Mawasi received dignity kits and menstrual hygiene supplies to reduce health risks and provide protection.

Attacks in the West Bank

In another development, Tom Fletcher, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, issued a statement in which he said that reports continue of Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians and their property across the West Bank, many of which are linked to Palestinian attempts to harvest their olive crops.

Fletcher – who is also the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator – added in his statement that Palestinians were killed and injured, their homes and property were destroyed, and their livestock were attacked. He explained that more trees and communities were damaged this year compared to the past six years.

Fletcher said that failure to prevent these attacks or punish their perpetrators is contrary to international law.

He stressed that the Palestinians must be protected, and that impunity cannot prevail, stressing that the perpetrators must be held accountable.