The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that residents of the Gaza Strip have not received humanitarian aid for almost a month and a half. This is the most serious humanitarian crisis since the beginning of the war with Israel, the report said.
Gaza humanitarian crisis “likely the worst” since start of war
“Currently, about 70 per cent of the Gaza Strip is under displacement orders or in “no go” zones, where the Israeli authorities require humanitarian teams to coordinate their movements. Displacement orders are now undermining access to half of all water wells across the Gaza Strip,” the department said in a statement.
The document shows that there has been no humanitarian aid from Israel since the resumption of strikes on Gaza on March 18. The ceasefire agreement was in force for two months.
On April 1, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he planned to take control of 25% of the Gaza Strip.
Israel makes new Gaza ceasefire proposal
The Palestinian Hamas movement said it is studying Israel’s new proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and will give an answer in the near future.
The movement said its leadership is “studying with great …responsibility the proposal it received from its intermediary brothers and will present its response to it as soon as possible.”
“The movement reiterates its firm position that any future agreement must include a permanent ceasefire, a complete withdrawal of the occupation forces from the Gaza Strip, a genuine prisoner exchange deal, the beginning of a serious process of rebuilding what was destroyed … and the lifting of the unjust siege on our territory,” the statement said.
Earlier, Egyptian TV channel Al Qahera News reported that Cairo had received an Israeli offer to cease fire in Gaza and start negotiations on a permanent ceasefire. According to the channel’s source, the offer was handed over to Hamas.
Meanwhile, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said the movement rejects Israel’s demand for disarmament in the new ceasefire proposal.
“The demand to disarm Hamas is unacceptable…It’s not just a red line. It is a million red lines,” he said in an interview with media.
In his view, the Israeli prime minister is not proposing a ceasefire agreement, but a surrender one.
“He is making these impossible demands in order to fail any effort to reach a ceasefire agreement,” the Hamas spokesman said. He added that Hamas will continue to participate in the negotiations to end the war.
