Any plans for short-term pauses in the
fighting in Gaza must be carried out in coordination with the UN
and following agreement by all sides, the Spokesperson for the
Secretary-General said on Thursday during his regular press
briefing from New York.
Stéphane Dujarric was responding to a journalist’s question
following the White House’s announcement that Israel has agreed
to halt military operations in northern Gaza to allow daily
four-hour humanitarian pauses.
Parties must agree
“How any such halt in the fighting, and how it would work for
humanitarian purposes, will need to be coordinated with the
United Nations, especially on the issue of timings and location,”
he said.
“And obviously in order for this to be done safely for
humanitarian purposes, it would have to be agreed with all
parties to the conflict to be truly effective.”
Escape from north Gaza
Meanwhile, humanitarians report that people in northern Gaza
continue to flee to the south, mostly on foot, amid intense
hostilities, with some 50,000 people evacuated on Wednesday.
Clashes and shelling on and around the road reportedly continued,
endangering evacuees as they moved south, with reports of corpses
being seen on the road.
Hundreds of thousands of people who remain in the north are
facing a dire humanitarian situation, as they struggle to find
even minimal amounts of water and food to survive.
Aid trickling in
Mr. Dujarric also updated on efforts to get more aid into Gaza
through the Rafah crossing with Egypt, the sole point of access
for the besieged enclave.
He said 106 trucks
primarily carrying food, medicine, health supplies, bottled water
and hygiene, arrived in Gaza on Wednesday.
Aid delivery began on 21 October and 756 trucks have made the
journey to date, which “represents only a fraction of what is
needed and still no fuel going in.”
One consequence was that Al Quds hospital in Gaza City had to
shut down key services on Wednesday, while the only provider of
maternity services in north Gaza – Al Awda hospital – has warned
of imminent closure.
Wednesday also saw the second delivery of much-needed medical
supplies and medicine to Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City since
conflict erupted on 7 October. The items were provided by
the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN agency that
assists Palestine refugees, UNRWA.
“Our WHO colleagues say that
while welcome, the quantities delivered are far from sufficient
to meet the immediate needs,” he said.
Honouring fallen colleagues
Mr. Dujarric also announced that the UN Flag will fly at
half-mast on Monday to pay tribute to the 99 UNRWA colleagues who
have lost their lives during the bombardment and fighting so far.
UN offices across the world are asked to follow suit and to
observe a minute of silence.
