UN decries ‘worst restrictions’ on Gaza aid since start of onslaught
Conflict-ravaged Gaza appears to be facing the worst restrictions on aid since Israel’s war there began over a year ago, the UN said, lamenting the devastating impact on children especially, AFP reports.
“Day after day, the situation for children becomes worse than the day before,” said James Elder, spokesman for the UN children’s agency Unicef.
Despite a desperate need to increase the amount of aid going in, Elder lamented that aid access was worsening.
“August was the lowest amount of humanitarian aid that came into the Gaza Strip of any full month since the war broke out,” he said, adding that there had been “several days in the last week (where) no commercial trucks whatsoever were allowed to come in”.
“We see now what is probably the worst restrictions we’ve seen on humanitarian aid, ever.”
But now, “we have seen an absolute reversal of that”, he warned, adding that since May, “we’ve seen consistent entry points blocked”. Northern Gaza meanwhile “hasn’t had food, any food aid at all coming in all of October”, he added.