The United Nations mobilizes response capabilities during the truce in Gaza

Farhan Haq, spokesman for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said reaching a negotiated truce is an important step in the right direction, but there is still much to be done.

The previous day, the Spokesman confirmed the implementation of agreements, including through talks with the necessary authorities, to enhance the entry of supplies and aid in the face of the possibility of a truce, which was confirmed on Wednesday.

“What we are doing is trying to make sure that we are prepared, so that we can provide humanitarian aid more effectively, if there is any cessation of fighting, which is what we are demanding,” he told the press.

At the same time, he warned that this handover “depends to some extent on the actions of the parties on the ground.”

Haq confirmed that there was an attack on Tuesday on Al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza, which led to the deaths of three people, two doctors, and a patient’s attendant.

He added that since the beginning of the war, the World Health Organization has documented 178 attacks on health facilities in the Gaza Strip, which led to the death of 22 people and the injury of 48 others among service workers.

It is estimated that two small hospitals in the north, one in Gaza City and the other in Beit Lahia, are partially functioning and receiving patients, according to the World Health Organization.

The remaining 22 facilities are out of service, while seven of the 11 medical facilities in the south are currently operational.

Guterres’ spokesman also reported the death of a World Health Organization official along with her six-month-old child, her husband, and her two brothers yesterday.

Between 7 October and 19 November, 108 officials of the United Nations Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) were killed in Gaza.

For its part, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) confirmed the entry of 63,800 liters of fuel from Egypt into the enclave yesterday.

However, the amount allowed by the Israeli authorities barely covers half of daily needs, according to UNRWA.

This puts the lives of residents at risk. The blockade is collective punishment and also imposes conditions on humanitarian aid, this is confirmed by a message posted on the social network

According to the United Nations, 79 more trucks carrying humanitarian supplies entered from Egypt on Tuesday afternoon, bringing the total number to 1,399 vehicles without counting those that arrived loaded with fuel.

But since before the crisis, they have averaged nearly 10,000 truckloads of commercial and humanitarian products per month, excluding fuel.

Agencies on the ground estimate that there are 770,000 internally displaced people taking refuge in 99 UNRWA facilities in the south in extremely overcrowded conditions.

As a result, over the past two weeks the agency has recorded a 35 percent increase in skin diseases and a 40 percent increase in diarrhea cases.

rgh/ebr