Humanitarian assistance reaches UNRWA shelters in northern Gaza for the first time since the war began – UNRWA Press Release

UNRWA TEAMS STAYED TO SERVE COMMUNITIES IN NEED IN THE AREA

RAFAH, SOUTHERN GAZA,

A convoy of trucks delivered much-needed aid to UNRWA shelters in the northern Gaza Strip. The six-truck convoy reached Jabalia on 27 November, an area that had been cut off from assistance for nearly 50 days.

“The level of damage is very extensive. It’s heart-wrenching,” said Thomas White, Director of UNRWA Affairs in Gaza. “Buildings have just been cleaved open. A mess of masonry, twisted metal and sheet iron blown everywhere. As we drove through Gaza City it was like a ghost town; all the streets were deserted. The impact of heavy airstrikes and shelling was so visible. Roads are riddled with craters, complicating aid deliveries.”

More than 70 per cent of people in the Gaza Strip have been displaced by the war. More than 1 million people are now in UNRWA shelters, including nearly 100,000 people in 50 shelters in the north.

“During the pause, people continue to move south. Due to heavy rain, we saw people covered in mud, carrying what they can. A young mother was walking along the side of the road with her two small daughters, both in tears. One of the girls just holding up one of her muddy shoes. We saw young men, women, children, old people. A few people were pushed on wheelchairs,” added White.

UNRWA teams in Jabalia stayed in the north to serve their communities. These UNRWA staff members have kept health clinics open, water wells running, and have been providing services to displaced people sheltering in UNRWA facilities.

“There are some remarkable stories of our courageous colleagues staying and serving their communities in northern Gaza. A head of UNRWA sanitation services, despite the unspeakable grief of his wife and daughter being killed, is out working every day to provide essential services for the community,” said White.

Since the pause started, UNRWA delivered assistance to several UNRWA shelters in the north. This included medical supplies, ready-to-eat food, wheat flour, bottled water, tents and blankets.

“Many families remain in their war-damaged houses, the only place that they call home. They told us they were afraid to make the trek south and live through the depravations of displacement in another part of the Gaza Strip that has not been spared from the war,” concluded White.

UNRWA calls for the pause to turn into a full humanitarian ceasefire to provide respite for the people and allow humanitarian aid and commercial goods to flow without interruption into the Gaza Strip.