Gaza’s Civil Defence agency says most of its emergency vehicles have ceased rescue operations because of a lack of fuel, raising concerns about victims trapped after Israeli bombings, Al Jazeera reported.
An official at Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza said Israel’s military continues to attack the besieged medical facility as it struggles to deal with many wounded Palestinians hurt in the ongoing strikes.
The UN’s humanitarian office says thousands of Palestinians in the areas of northern Gaza under siege by Israeli forces are struggling to stay alive because there has been virtually no food or humanitarian aid deliveries for more than 40 days.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric delivered the grim report from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, known as OCHA.
“OCHA reports that all attempts by the UN to support people in [Beit Hanoon], Beit Lahiya and parts of [Jabalia] – all of which remain under siege – have been either denied or impeded,” he said.
So far in November, OCHA reports that 27 out of 31 planned humanitarian missions were rejected by Israel and the other four were severely impeded, Dujarric said.
“The result is that bakeries and kitchens in north Gaza governorate have shut down, nutrition support has been suspended, and the refueling of water and sanitation facilities has been completely blocked,” Dujarric said.
Food and medical supplies were supposed to be delivered to Kamal Adwan Hospital but “our partners say the team was forced to offload the food at an Israeli military checkpoint before reaching the hospital, and only some of the medical supplies could be delivered to the facility”, Dujarric added.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has denounced Israel’s continuing assaults on places of worship and religious symbols in Gaza.
“The far-right Israeli government has been openly waging a war against not only the Palestinian people in Gaza, but a war on Islam and Christianity. From the destruction of mosques and churches, to the abuse and humiliation of Muslim women, to now urinating on the Holy Quran, the Israeli government has violated every sanctity that Muslims hold dear,” Nihad Awad, CAIR’s national executive director, said in a statement.
“The Israeli military is currently one of the most immoral forces on the world stage, and unfortunately the Biden administration remains steadfastly complicit with its war crimes. We call on Muslim-majority nations to harness their collective power, including their economic influence, and take concrete action to confront this out-of-control government and end its genocide.”
Gaza’s Media Office has condemned the international community for its ongoing “silence” during Israel’s “extermination” of Palestinians in the war-ravaged territory.
Israel’s military “continues to escalate the campaign of extermination that it has focused on 45 days in the northern Gaza Strip”, it said in a statement.
The office highlighted “ethnic cleansing, forced displacement, starvation, a complete siege, and horrific massacres committed daily” against tens of thousands of trapped residents.
It accused Israel of forcing northern Gaza’s Palestinians to leave their land with the implementation of its “Generals’ Plan“.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization has expressed grave concern for hospitals in war-battered northern Gaza where one hospital director described the situation as an “extreme catastrophe”.
“We are very, very concerned, and it’s getting harder and harder to get the aid in. It’s getting harder and harder to get the specialist personnel in at a time when there is greater and greater need,” WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris told journalists in Geneva.
She said the organisation is “particularly concerned about Kamal Adwan Hospital” in Beit Lahiya, which was again attacked on Tuesday by Israeli troops.
“A large number of children and elderly people continue to arrive suffering from malnutrition,” hospital director Dr Hussam Abu Safia said, accusing Israel of “blocking the entry of food, water, medical staff and materials destined for the north”.
Harris estimated that between November 8-16, “four WHO missions we were trying to get up to go were denied”.
