UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher said that the Gaza Strip is currently the most dangerous place to deliver humanitarian support.Despite the massive humanitarian needs, it has become almost impossible to deliver even a fraction of the aid that is so urgently required, Fletcher said in a statement.’The Israeli authorities continue to deny us meaningful access over 100 requests to access North Gaza denied,’ he added.’In January 2024, the International Court of Justice issued the first set of provisional orders, in the case on the application of the Genocide Convention in the Gaza Strip,’ he said, adding ‘Less than a year later, the sustained intensity of violence means that there is nowhere that civilians in Gaza are safe. Schools, hospitals and civilian infrastructure have been reduced to rubble.’He also said that North Gaza has been under a near-total siege for more than two months, raising the ‘spectre of famine’, noting that South Gaza is ‘extremely overcrowded, creating horrific living conditions and even greater humanitarian needs as winter sets in.’Across Gaza, Israeli airstrikes on densely populated areas continue, including on areas where Israeli forces have ordered people to move, causing destruction, displacement and death, he said.Meanwhile, in the West Bank the situation continues to deteriorate, and the death toll is the highest we have recorded, the UN official said.He pointed out that in the past year, Israeli military operations resulted in the destruction of essential infrastructure such as roads and water networks, especially in refugee camps, stressing that rising settler violence and home demolitions have resulted in displacement and growing needs, and that movement restrictions are impeding people's livelihoods and access to essential services especially healthcare.’ In the face of these challenges, the UN and humanitarian community continue to try to stay and deliver, against mounting odds,’ Fletcher said, calling on the international community to defend international humanitarian law, demand protection of all civilians, insist on the release of all hostages, defend UNRWA's vital work, and break the cycle of violence.
