The average Palestinian in Gaza is living on 2 pieces of bread a day, UN official says
The average Palestinian in Gaza is living on two pieces of Arabic bread made from flour the United Nations had stockpiled in the region, yet the main refrain now being heard in the street is 바카라 게임 웹사이트Water, water,바카라 게임 웹사이트 the Gaza director for the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees said Friday.
Thomas White, who said he traveled 바카라 게임 웹사이트the length and breadth of Gaza in the last few weeks,바카라 게임 웹사이트 described the place as a "scene of death and destruction.바카라 게임 웹사이트 No place is safe now, he said, and people fear for their lives, their future and their ability to feed their families.
The Palestinian refugee agency, known as UNRWA, is supporting about 89 bakeries across Gaza, aiming to get bread to 1.7 million people, White told diplomats from the U.N.바카라 게임 웹사이트s 193 member nations in a video briefing from Gaza.
But, he said, 바카라 게임 웹사이트now people are beyond looking for bread. It바카라 게임 웹사이트s looking for water.바카라 게임 웹사이트
U.N. deputy Mideast coordinator Lynn Hastings, who is also the humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories, said only one of three water supply lines from Israel is operational.
바카라 게임 웹사이트Many people are relying on brackish or saline groundwater, if at all,바카라 게임 웹사이트 she said.
In the briefing, U.N. humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths also said intense negotiations are taking place among authorities from Israel, Egypt, the United States and United Nations on allowing fuel to enter Gaza.
Fuel, he said, is essential for the functioning of institutions, hospitals and the distribution of water and electricity. "We must allow these supplies reliably, repetitively and dependently into Gaza.바카라 게임 웹사이트
Backup generators, which have been essential to keep hospitals, water desalination plants, food production facilities and other essential services operating, 바카라 게임 웹사이트are one by one grinding to a halt as fuel supplies run out,바카라 게임 웹사이트 Hastings said.
White pointed to other major problems.
Sewage is not being treated and instead is being pumped into the sea, he said. 바카라 게임 웹사이트But when you speak to municipal workers, the reality is once their fuel runs out, that sewage will flow in the streets.바카라 게임 웹사이트
In addition, he said, cooking gas that was brought into Gaza from Egypt by the private sector before the war is increasingly in short supply. Aid organizations like UNRWA 바카라 게임 웹사이트are not going to be able to step in and replicate the network of distribution by the private sector for this essential item,바카라 게임 웹사이트 he said.
White said close to 600,000 people are sheltering in 149 UNRWA facilities, most of them schools, but the agency has lost contact with many in the north, where Israel is carrying intense ground and air operations following Hamas바카라 게임 웹사이트 surprise Oct. 7 attacks.
An average of 4,000 displaced people in Gaza are living in the schools without the resources to maintain proper sanitation, he said. 바카라 게임 웹사이트The conditions are desperate,바카라 게임 웹사이트 with women and children sleeping in the classrooms and men sleeping outside in the open, he said.
The U.N. can바카라 게임 웹사이트t provide them safety, White said, pointing to over 50 UNRWA facilities impacted by the conflict, including five direct hits. 바카라 게임 웹사이트At last count, 38 people have died in our shelters. I fear that with the fighting going on in the north right now, that number is going to grow significantly,바카라 게임 웹사이트 he said.
Griffiths, the humanitarian chief, said 72 UNRWA staff members had been killed since Oct. 7. 바카라 게임 웹사이트I think it바카라 게임 웹사이트s the highest number of U.N. staff lost in a conflict,바카라 게임 웹사이트 he said.
The Gaza Health Ministry바카라 게임 웹사이트s total of more than 9,000 people killed in Gaza is four times as many deaths as during the 50-day conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza in 2014, when just over 2,200 Palestinians were killed, Griffiths said. He added that the real toll will only emerge once buildings are cleared and rubble is taken away.
Griffiths called for humanitarian pauses to get aid to millions of people. He also urged the immediate release of all hostages and protection of all civilians by both sides as required under international humanitarian law.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has repeatedly called for a full cease-fire, and Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian U.N. ambassador, criticized Griffiths for talking about humanitarian pauses, something the United States is also urging.
This means 바카라 게임 웹사이트Israel continues killing the Palestinians, but gives us few hours every now and then, in order to get food and other stuff,바카라 게임 웹사이트 Mansour said.
He said a cease-fire is essential to save lives, saying that 바카라 게임 웹사이트almost 50% of all the structures in the Gaza Strip바카라 게임 웹사이트 have been destroyed by Israel and the situation for Palestinians 바카라 게임 웹사이트is beyond comprehension and beyond description.바카라 게임 웹사이트
바카라 게임 웹사이트It requires from all of us to do everything that we can to stop it,바카라 게임 웹사이트 he said.