UN claims aid deliveries to northern Gaza blocked by Israel repeatedly in recent days

Six attempts by the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs to deliver aid to besieged areas in northern Gaza were blocked over the past two days by Israeli authorities, the spokesman for the UN secretary-general says.

“Every attempt by the UN to access these areas with food, water and health missions this month were either denied or impeded,” Stéphane Dujarric says during a press briefing.

Seventy-nine percent of Gaza remains under active evacuation orders, Dujarric says, as more and more Palestinians have been pushed into the coastal Muwasi humanitarian zone. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Israel yesterday to rescind evacuation orders once it finishes military operations in those areas — something the IDF has yet to do.

Dujarric cites a World Food Program report from the end of October that found that entire food groups have disappeared from Gaza’s markets, with dairy products and eggs “nearly non-existent” and raw fruits and vegetables also scarce.

“Many items have increased over 1,000 percent from pre-conflict prices,” he adds.

COGAT did not respond to repeated requests for comment on the UN claims.