UNITED NATIONS, Jan 29 (APP): Israel\u2019s ongoing war on Gaza Strip has been \u201cparticularly intense\u201d in the southern city of Khan Younis, UN humanitarian officials warned on Monday, as the UN agency that assists the Palestinians, UNWRA, reported that its shelters were now four times over-capacity. \u201cThere is simply not enough food,\u201d UNRWA tweeted on social platform X, formerly Twitter, with photographs from another city slightly further north, Deir-al-Balah, showing people queuing \u201cin the rain and cold\u201d for relief supplies.<\/p>\n
In its latest situation update, UN aid coordination office OCHA reported heavy fighting in Khan Younis close to two hospitals: Nasser \u2013 where many wounded patients have \u201cno options for treatment amid ongoing heavy fighting and bombing\u201d, citing M\u00e9decins Sans Fronti\u00e8res \u2013 and Al Amal \u2013 where the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) reported continuing bombardment of the immediate vicinity. There were also reports of Palestinians fleeing south to Rafah \u201cwhich is already overcrowded, despite the lack of safe passage\u201d, OCHA said, as it noted no let-up in rocket fire from Gaza into southern Israel.<\/p>\n
UNRWA insisted that it would do \u201cwhatever possible\u201d to continue helping Gazans, as the largest aid organization in the enclave. A probe has already been launched by the UN\u2019s highest investigative body \u2013 the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) \u2013 while on Sunday, UN Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres assured that any UN employee involved \u201cin acts of terror will be held accountable\u201d. Of 12 individuals allegedly implicated, nine were immediately identified and their contracts terminated with UNRWA. One staff member was confirmed dead and the identities of the remaining two are being clarified. On 17 January a full, independent review of the agency was also announced by UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini.<\/p>\n
At the same time, Guterres appealed to the countries that suspended funding to the UNRWA to reconsider their decisions, to at least ensure continuity of its vital humanitarian operations. Echoing that call, UN World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros said in a post on X on Sunday that cutting off funding to UNRWA \u201cwill only hurt the people of Gaza\u201d. They face the looming threat of famine, disease and displacement after nearly four months of Israeli bombardment. More than two million people in Gaza depend on the UN agency for their survival but its humanitarian operation \u201cis collapsing\u201d, warned Lazzarini on X on Saturday. UNRWA usually has 13,000 staff serving Palestinian communities in Gaza.<\/p>\n
Today some 3,000 continue to work in a war zone, tasked with running shelters for over one million people, providing food and healthcare to civilians in dire need since the start of the conflict. To date, more than 26,420 people have been killed in Gaza since 7 October, said UN aid coordination wing OCHA, citing data from the enclave\u2019s health ministry. \u201cThe people of Gaza have been enduring unthinkable horrors and deprivation for months,\u201d the UN\u2019s top emergency humanitarian official Martin Griffiths said on Sunday on X. \u201cTheir needs have never been higher \u2013 and our humanitarian capacity to assist them has never been under such threat. We need to be at full stretch to give the people of Gaza a moment of hope.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
UNITED NATIONS, Jan 29 (APP): Israel\u2019s ongoing war on Gaza Strip has been \u201cparticularly intense\u201d in the southern city of Khan Younis, UN humanitarian officials warned on Monday, as the UN agency that assists the Palestinians, UNWRA, reported that its shelters were now four times […]<\/p>\n
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