'We also continue to face major impediments that hamper our ability to conduct these operations,' says UN spokesperson
The UN said Monday that Israel did not allow any humanitarian aid missions into the Gaza Strip over the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday weekend as the humanitarian situation in the enclave reaches critical levels.
"Over the weekend, there were no missions to collect supplies from the Kareem Shalom crossing," UN spokesman Farhan Haq told a news conference, adding the "Israeli authorities informed us that the crossing would remain closed on Friday and Saturday."
"We also continue to face major impediments that hamper our ability to conduct these operations. These impediments include unacceptably dangerous routes, a severe shortage of vetted drivers and delays, with our teams having to wait often for hours for military activities to pause," he said.
Citing the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Haq warned that "the crisis has reached unprecedented levels of despair as people continue to go hungry across Gaza. Many are forced to risk their lives in search of food."
On fuel shortages, Haq reported that at least 260,000 liters of fuel were looted in northern Gaza over the weekend.
"Prior to this, the UN had repeatedly attempted to reach these stocks to retrieve them, but these attempts were denied by the Israeli authorities," he said, noting that Israel had denied the UN's 14 attempts to retrieve this fuel since May 15.
Stressing that Israel continues to deny UN attempts to reach fuel supplies in Rafah in the south of Gaza, Haq warned that “unless a solution is found in the coming days, the entire aid operation could come to a standstill."
Meanwhile, in the occupied West Bank, Haq said Israeli military operations have continued in the north, "destroying roads and disrupting Palestinians' access to central services," as the UN provides aid to tens of thousands of displaced people.
Deadly Israeli attacks continued across Gaza throughout Eid al-Adha after Gazans spent the holiday under heavy bombardment by Israeli forces, which claimed nearly 150 lives.
The Israeli army, rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, has pursued a brutal offensive against Gaza since October 2023, killing nearly 55,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.
Last November the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
