NEW YORK CITY: The fragile ceasefire in Gaza could unravel amid sweeping humanitarian shortfalls, continuing Israeli military operations and mounting restrictions on aid access, a senior UN official told the Security Council on Wednesday.
At the same time, violence and settlement expansions in the occupied West Bank are accelerating, Ramiz Alakhbarov, the UN’s deputy special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, added.
He acknowledged some improvements on the ground in Gaza, noting that deliveries of aid via Egypt, Jordan, Israel, the occupied West Bank and Cyprus had helped to increase supply volumes and improve nutrition, but he stressed that “more must be done.”
Most people in Gaza continue to be dependent on humanitarian assistance, with displaced families exposed to worsening winter conditions, he added, yet aid agencies are still unable to operate at scale despite the halt in major hostilities.
“Nearly the entire population in Gaza remains in need of humanitarian assistance,” Alakhbarov said, warning that heavy rain and cold temperatures have compounded the suffering of about 1.5 million displaced Palestinians who are living in inadequate shelters.
