Gaza residents face critical lack of basic necessities — UNRWA
Gaza is facing critical shortages of basic necessities as the UN highlights the dire situation affecting hundreds of thousands amid the ongoing Israeli invasion.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has reported that hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza are deprived of life necessities like adequate shelter, food, medicine and clean water.
“Hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza are deprived of adequate shelter, food, medicine & clean water,” said the agency on X on Saturday.
It further noted that the number of crossings into the enclave “remains far too limited.”
“The ability to dispose of garbage & treat sewage is severely restricted. Trash continues piling up,” said UNRWA.
Later, in a separate statement, UN aid worker Louise Wateridge explained that people in Gaza “need everything,” adding: “These are very desperate times. [...] The only answer to that is to provide more aid.”
"Trash is piling up everywhere, people are living under plastic sheeting where temperatures soar.” @UNWateridge
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) June 29, 2024
Families in #Gaza live next to mountains of garbage and sewage. With very few bathrooms available and unbearable summer heat, the sanitary conditions are desperate. pic.twitter.com/V8Q0H7Np7P
Many under ruins
Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas.
More than 37,800 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and more than 86,800 others injured, according to local health authorities.
Over eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.