The United Nations reported growing obstacles to humanitarian efforts in the occupied Palestinian territories, in particular mentioning obstruction by the Israeli authorities. In this way, the percentage of humanitarian transports denied by the Israeli authorities more than doubled, from 7 per cent in June to 15 per cent in July, according to UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
The UN spokesman, citing the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told reporters that the percentage of humanitarian transports denied by Israel has more than doubled, from 7 per cent in June to 15 per cent in July. He noted despite an overall increase in the number of co-ordinated humanitarian missions, denial of access is making it increasingly difficult to get aid to where it is needed most. The number of humanitarian missions increased from 414 in June to over 540 in July.
Dujarric highlighted an OCHA report on significant challenges in northern Gaza, where, as of Thursday, only 43 per cent of the nearly 150 humanitarian aid missions planned this month had been arranged by the Israeli authorities. He mentioned that in southern Gaza, less than half of the nearly 280 co-ordinated aid movements in August came from Israeli authorities, adding that recent evacuation orders by the Israeli military affected 15 areas in Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis. He said:
Initial mapping shows that these areas include nearly 150 displacement locations, most of them informal sites. The latest evacuation directives bring the total number of orders issued in August to 13. hey warn that active hostilities, damaged roads, access constraints, and a lack of public order and safety have led to critical food shortages.
In addition, humanitarian partners working to alleviate hunger in the Gaza Strip say the amount of food aid reaching the southern Gaza Strip in July was among the lowest in 10 months, according to the UN spokesman.
Netanyahu at odds with negotiators over ceasefire terms
A source with inside knowledge of talks between Israel and mediators said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has clashed with Israeli ceasefire negotiators over his insistence that Israel not withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor in the southern Gaza Strip. Plus, Israel’s Channel 12 television earlier reported that Netanyahu sharply criticised the negotiating team led by David Barnea, head of the Mossad intelligence service, for being willing to make too many concessions. Netanyahu, for his part, eventually agreed to move one position in Philadelphia by several hundred metres, but will still retain overall control of the corridor despite pressure from members of his own negotiating team.
The Prime Minister has repeatedly emphasised that Israel will not relinquish control of the Philadelphi corridor because he wants to prevent Hamas from smuggling weapons and fighters across the border with Egypt. In addition, Israel must maintain checkpoints in the Netzarim corridor to stop armed Hamas militants travelling from the southern Gaza Strip to the north.
Over 10 months after the attack on Israel on 7 October that triggered the war, the United States is pressuring Israel to stop the military action and the bombing of civilian targets that have killed more than 40,000 people, mostly women and children. In the past 24 hours alone, at least 12 Palestinians, including two children and a woman, were killed early Saturday morning in Israeli attacks east of Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip and near the Al-Nuseirat camp, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported, adding that at least 15 people were injured, according to Reuters.
