The world has been warned an “unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe” is unfolding as the war between Israel and Hamas rages on.
In the wake of the harrowing terror attack launched on October 7 by Hamas on Israel, Tel Aviv has been carrying out retaliatory air strikes and barring the entrance of food, water and electricity into the Gaza Strip – a territory that was already heavily reliant on international food assistance.
On October 15, Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), put the spotlight on the toll this blockade is having on the two million civilians living in the strip, as he said during a press conference: “As I speak with you, Gaza is running out of water and electricity.
“In fact, Gaza is being strangled and it seems that the world right now has lost its humanity.
“If we look at the issue of water – we all know water is life – Gaza is running out of water, and Gaza is running out of life. “Soon, I believe, with this there will be no food or medicine either.”
The organisation’s facilities, Mr Lazzarini said, don’t have the capacity to support all the people seeking shelter, with at least 400,000 displaced persons already being housed in schools and UNRWA buildings.
Painting a gut-wrenching image of the dramatic situation in Gaza, pummeled with retaliatory rockets for the past days, the UN official said: “Gaza is now even running out of body bags.”
On Sunday afternoon, Israel’s Energy Minister announced Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden agreed on renewing water supplies to parts of southern Gaza, where thousands of people escaped following an Israeli military evacuation order on Thursday.
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