UN Security Council calls for urgent aid to address Gaza’s worsening crisis

The United Nations Security Council has called for a significant increase in aid to reach those in need in Gaza, warning that the situation in the Palestinian enclave was getting worse.

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said there needs to be a ”huge, huge rise in aid” to Gaza, where most of the population of 2.3 million people has been displaced and the enclave’s health officials say more than 43,922 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s offensive.

”The situation is devastating, and frankly, beyond comprehension, and it’s getting worse, not better. Winter’s here. Famine is imminent, and 400 days into this war, it is totally unacceptable that it’s harder than ever to get aid into Gaza,” Lammy said.

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Hamas-led gunmen attacked Israel in October last year, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the Security Council that Washington was closely watching Israel’s actions to improve the situation for Palestinians and engaging with the Israeli government every day.

”Israel must also urgently take additional steps to alleviate the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza,” she said.

President Joe Biden’s administration has concluded that Israel isn’t currently blocking assistance to Gaza, and therefore, isn’t violating U.S. law. This assessment comes on the heels of a warning issued by the U.S. in an October 13 letter, which outlined 15 steps Israel needed to take within 30 days to address Gaza’s worsening situation. Failure to comply might have consequences on US military aid to Israel ¹.

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It’s worth noting that the humanitarian situation in Gaza remains dire, with the U.S. acknowledging the severity of the issue. However, according to Thomas-Greenfield, Israel is actively working to implement 12 of the 15 steps outlined in the letter. This development suggests that Israel is taking steps to address the concerns raised by the US.

”We need to see all steps fully implemented and sustained, and we need to see concrete improvement in the humanitarian situation on the ground,” she said, including Israel allowing commercial trucks to move into Gaza alongside humanitarian assistance, addressing persistent lawlessness and implementing pauses in fighting in large areas of Gaza to allow assistance to reach those in need.

Tor Wennesland, the U.N. coordinator for the Middle East peace process, said humanitarian agencies face a challenging and dangerous operational environment in Gaza and access restrictions that hinder their work.

”The humanitarian situation in Gaza, as winter begins, is catastrophic, particularly developments in the north of Gaza with a large-scale and near-total displacement of the population and widespread destruction and clearing of land, amidst what looks like a disturbing disregard for international humanitarian law,” Wennesland said.

”The current conditions are among the worst we’ve seen during the entire war and are not set to improve,” he said.

With inputs from agencies.