UNOCHA Warns Gaza's Critical Shortfall in Humanitarian Supplies

On Wednesday, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) urged the immediate reopening of more aid entry points into Gaza.

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Entry of supplies including food, water, medical supplies and fuel via Gaza's Rafah crossing with Egypt has increased during the ceasefire, but is still far from sufficient.

Approximately 85 tons of cooking oil were transported daily to Gaza since the ceasefire, accounting for only one-third of the average daily consumption in Gaza before the conflict.

Queues at filling stations for cooking gas in Khan Yunis, south of Gaza, extended for nearly two kilometers, with people waiting there overnight. Reports indicated residents resorting to burning doors and window frames for cooking.

The mere shortage of supplies has also cost Gaza US$1.6 million every day in agricultural production loss, not even counting the destruction of agricultural equipment, farmland, and crops, especially olive trees.

"Furthermore, only one of the World Food Programme bakeries resumed operations in southern Gaza, providing bread to around 90,000 people in UN shelters, while other bakeries operate intermittently," UNOCHA noted.

On Nov. 24, Doctors Without Borders Director Joe Belliveau warned that "we are already witnessing a humanitarian crisis of catastrophic proportions," as reported by the Middle East Eye.