OCHA warns of “deliberate dismantling” of life in Gaza

26 April 2025

Opening Remarks at Press Briefing to Palestinian Journalists by Jonathan Whittall, OCHA Head of Office for the Occupied Palestinian Territory

As prepared for delivery

Today, people are not surviving in Gaza – those who aren’t shot or bombed are slowly dying. They are being suffocated.

What we see around us is endless suffering under a total and complete blockade, a total closure that has lasted now for almost two months while air strikes and ground operations intensify and displacement orders increase.

We know that hospitals are overwhelmed, yet supplies are running out, and some of the sick and injured can’t be treated.

We know that people are hungry and malnutrition rates are rising, but our warehouses are empty, bakeries are closed, and soon, community kitchens will be closing.

We know that people are thirsty, but water wells are out of reach.

We know that solid waste is piling up and sanitation conditions are deteriorating, but we can’t move the waste because landfills are unreachable and equipment unavailable.

We know that people are trapped under the rubble, but there is limited fuel and limited machinery to rescue them.

We know that land is shrinking with displacement orders, fishers shot at sea, and that nowhere is safe.

We know that sewage is flowing in the streets, and we don’t have all the supplies needed to repair networks.

We know that children need to learn, but schools are destroyed or inaccessible, and we don’t have education supplies.

We know that prices of remaining goods are rising, but there is no cash available in Gaza.

We know that there is no cooking gas or fuel and that people are burning trash to generate some energy.

We know that UNRWA is irreplaceable but is under unprecedented pressure.

We know that people are living on rubble, but we have no more tents to distribute.

We know that this is not only about humanitarian needs but also about dignity. There is an assault on people’s dignity.

We know that humanitarian workers, first responders and journalists – who should be protected, just like all civilians – are being killed in a war that appears to be fought without limits.

People in Gaza tell me that they feel like it’s the deliberate dismantling of Palestinian life – in plain sight. Documented daily by all of you, Palestinian journalists.

We have seen the images of children’s bodies being thrown from one building to another due to the force of a bombing.

We have seen the videos of families being burnt alive.

We have seen the bodies of our colleagues who have been killed.

We have seen the total and complete destruction of infrastructure in Gaza all around us.

We have seen patients having to be turned away after a hospital has been bombed and taken out of service.

We can see every day, family members and friends of everyone in Gaza being killed or displaced.

Together with you, we are witnessing these atrocities.

As humanitarians, we can see that aid is being weaponized through its denial. There is no justification for this, and it has to stop.

Lives depend on the blockade ending, aid flowing and a ceasefire being reinstated.

I hope that we see real accountability – real accountability – before we see history judge those who watched what is happening in Gaza and did nothing.