Tel Aviv, Feb. 27, (dpa/GNA) – According to UN figures, the amount of aid delivered to the suffering population in the Gaza Strip was halved in February compared to the previous month.
“Aid was supposed to increase not decrease to address the huge needs of 2 million Palestinians in desperate living conditions. Among the obstacles: lack of political will, regular closing of the crossing points & lack of security due to military operations + collapse of civil order,” said Philippe Lazzarini, head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), on the X platform, formerly Twitter, on Monday.
On average, only 98 lorries with aid supplies have reached the sealed-off coastal strip every day this month, the UN added.
Israel, which has been waging a relentless war against the Islamist Hamas since October 7, controls the border crossings into the Gaza Strip together with Egypt.
Lazzarini argued that a ceasefire and the lifting of the siege on the Gaza Strip were needed to allow life-saving aid deliveries and the commercial movement of goods.
The Gaza war was triggered by the unprecedented attacks by militants from Hamas and affiliated groups which killed 1,200 people in southern Israel on October 7 last year.
Israel responded with airstrikes and a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip. According to UN figures, 75% of the population of the coastal area, or almost 1.7 million people, have become internally displaced persons as a result.
Medical care has largely collapsed and many people are living in tents or on the streets.