Humanitarian services overstrained by influx of civilians fleeing Gaza City, UN says

Humanitarian workers and services in southern Gaza have become significantly strained by the massive influx of hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians fleeing Gaza City, the UN says.

“As the offensive on Gaza City intensifies, the influx of newly displaced people arriving in the south is putting even more stress on already overstretched services, as space in southern Gaza continues to shrink due to overcrowding,” says UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric during a press briefing in New York.

Civilians are arriving at shelters in the south “deep into the night, many of them walking for long hours without food, without water and without shelter.”

The lone evacuation route known as the Al Rashid coastal road remains “extremely congested as vehicles, donkey carts, tuk-tuks and people on foot make their way south amid the escalating attacks,” Dujarric says.

On Thursday, a UN interagency mission assessed multiple areas of the southern city of Khan Younis, where people displaced from the north have recently arrived. “The assessment noted high levels of need among the displaced families, especially for shelter, for food, for water, for medical care and for every essential part of survival,” the UN spokesperson adds.

Dujarric notes that looting of critical aid remains “remains a critical obstacle,” with four UNICEF trucks full of ready-to-use therapeutic food were stolen at gunpoint in Gaza City.

UNICEF was also forced earlier today to cancel their mission to pick up supplies for the Kerem Shalom Crossing for the third day in a row, due to the high risk of looting on the route that was cleared by the Israeli authorities for us to use, Dujarric says.

Israel has kept the lone northern Gaza Zikim crossing closed and, since last Thursday, has denied attempts to coordinate water trucking to the north, while access to the water pipeline that runs from Israel also remains blocked.

Earlier today, a mission to deliver fuel to Gaza City was aborted after the convoy was forced to wait for five hours for approval due to Israeli restrictions, Dujarric says.

Those who are fleeing must be allowed to do so safely, and they must be allowed to return once the situation allows, if they wish.