Oxfam says only 12 aid trucks have been distributed in northern Gaza in almost three months

Only 12 humanitarian trucks managed to distribute food and water to Palestinians in northern Gaza in nearly three months, a humanitarian group warned Monday.

According to Oxfam, although 34 “meager” aid trucks have entered the devastated region, it is a combination of deliberate delays and systematic obstruction by the authorities. Israeli The army meant that only 12 of them were able to provide food to the Palestinians.

They added that Oxfam had been unable to provide aid in northern Gaza since October 6 and said it had received calls since early December from vulnerable people stuck in homes and shelters completely short of money. of food and water.

Oxfam said that in one week last month, three trucks were authorized to distribute aid in Gaza, carrying ready-to-eat rations, wheat flour and water to the Mahdia al- Shawa in Beit Hanoun, which housed displaced families.

“While aid was being distributed, a few hours later soldiers and quadcopters fired on the school and people were ordered to leave,” Oxfam said.

“The next day, the Israeli army returned and bombed the school, burning the buildings.”

More than 45,000 people have been killed since Israel began its attack on Gaza in October 2023. The vast majority of the population has been forcibly displaced while the north has been depopulated.

“Apocalyptic”

Oxfam staff said this week that humanitarian access across the enclave was “at an all-time low”.

They said winter weather conditions were expected to affect more than 1.6 million people living in makeshift shelters, including more than 500,000 in “flood-prone areas”.

“While aid was being distributed, a few hours later, soldiers and quadcopters fired on the school and people were ordered to leave”

– Oxfam

Meanwhile, famine is becoming a reality for millions of people in Gaza.

Oxfam quoted a man evacuated from the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza last week without notice, saying that “adults tell children not to play so they don’t get dizzy” at cause of hunger, adding that a packet of biscuits was enough. they had 15 grandchildren.

Sally Abi-Khalil, Oxfam’s Middle East and North Africa director, described the situation in Gaza as “apocalyptic”.

“The utter despair of not having food or shelter for one’s family in the bitter cold of winter. It is abhorrent that, despite Israel’s so public violation of international law and relentless use of starvation as a weapon of war, world leaders continue to do nothing,” she said.

“Gaza has been largely destroyed and the entire population is suffering. The public sector has collapsed and the humanitarian system is on its knees.

“We implore the entire international community: stop this, now. You have the diplomatic and economic levers to stop Israel.

“Every day that passes without a ceasefire is a death sentence for hundreds more civilians. »

A new report released this month by Médecins Sans Frontières, also known as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), says there is evidence of ethnic cleansing and destruction in the country. Gazaincluding massacres, sieges and forced displacements.

In his last resultsMSF detailed from Israel the continued devastation in the enclave, the dismantling of essential civilian infrastructure and the systemic refusal of humanitarian aid.

This follows other reports from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch which called the Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip a genocide.