UN: "Relief Warehouse Floor in Southern Gaza Strip Housing 2 Million Displaced Persons"

Israel Seizes Gaza Strip's Rafah Checkpoint
US Plans to Deliver Relief Supplies via Temporary Pier

Amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian armed group Hamas, it has been reported that relief warehouses in the southern Gaza Strip have been depleted. The southern Gaza Strip is home to about 2 million displaced people, raising concerns about shortages of food and supplies.

The British Guardian reported on the 15th, citing UN officials, that the relief warehouses in southern Gaza are completely empty, and with all access routes into Gaza currently blocked, there is no possibility of replenishing relief supplies.

Since the outbreak of the war between Israel and Hamas in October last year, aid organizations such as the WFP and UNRWA have been delivering relief supplies through Rafah, the southernmost city of Gaza, and the Kerem Shalom crossing on the Israeli side. However, Israel recently took control of the Palestinian checkpoint in Rafah, and movement through Kerem Shalom has also been restricted, cutting off the supply of relief goods.

Georgios Petropoulos, head of the Gaza office of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), explained, "There are no tents in the warehouses for humanitarian aid. Food stocks from the World Food Programme (WFP) or the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) are no longer present in the southern warehouses of Gaza." He added, "What remains are only what has already been distributed to people and what is left in the markets, and it is expected to run out soon."

According to the UN, about 600,000 of the displaced people who were in Rafah have reportedly been forced to flee again under orders from the Israeli military. The Israeli military recently ordered displaced people to move to the humanitarian zone in Al-Mawasi along the coast. However, hospitals within Gaza have only about a month's worth of medical supplies left, and treatment is limited due to fuel shortages.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

This disruption in the delivery of relief supplies is escalating into a conflict between Israel and Egypt. On the 14th, Israeli Foreign Minister Katz issued a statement saying, "The world holds Israel responsible for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, but the key to resolving it lies in the hands of our Egyptian friends." In response, the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement protesting, saying, "The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is Israel's responsibility, and Israeli military operations in Rafah are the main cause of the disruption in relief deliveries."

In this situation, the United States plans to bring in relief supplies through a temporary pier installed in Gaza and entrust the UN with their receipt and distribution. Since March, the US has been promoting plans to build a temporary pier off the coast of Gaza for humanitarian aid. The US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced via X (formerly Twitter) that at around 7:40 a.m. local time on the 16th, troops docked a temporary pier on the Gaza beach. CENTCOM explained that US forces did not enter Gaza, and the UN will be responsible for receiving and distributing the relief supplies brought in through the pier.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.