It is estimated that tens of thousands of Palestinians are still there

Israel’s intensified blockade of the northern Gaza Strip over the past three weeks has left the region without water, food and medical assistance. According to the United Nations Palestinian Refugee Agency (UNRWA), which has teams working in northern Gaza, Israel has not allowed humanitarian aid to enter the territory.

The head of the UN agency, Philippe Lazzarini, said this Tuesday (22) that there have been three weeks of uninterrupted bombing by Israel in the north of the enclave.

It is estimated that tens of thousands of Palestinians are still in the north of the enclave. The UN agency has been making systematic appeals for Israel to allow humanitarian assistance to enter the site. UNRWA also reported that people who try to flee the region are killed and their bodies left in the street and that missions to rescue the injured under the rubble are not authorized.

“In northern Gaza, people are just waiting to die. They feel abandoned, hopeless and alone. They live from one moment to the next, fearing death every second”, added Lazzarini.

The high representative of the European Union (EU) for foreign affairs, Josep Borrell Fontelles, also spoke about the situation in the north of the Gaza Strip. According to the European authority, the reports from the region are horrific and asked that international observers and the media have access to the site.

“The human suffering caused by man-made hunger and forced displacement cannot be justified. I condemn the heavy bombing and destruction of UNRWA facilities,” Fontelles said today on social media.

The UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) has reported attacks and sieges on health facilities in the north of the Gaza Strip. According to the organization, two of the three remaining hospitals were directly hit.

“Over the past two weeks, Israeli forces have increased pressure on these hospitals to evacuate, but the patients have nowhere to go. At the Indonesian hospital, two patients died due to a power outage and lack of supplies; some medical staff had to flee for their lives. The facility is no longer operational,” warned Muhannad Hadi, Ocha’s humanitarian coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the army has been carrying out operations in the Jabalia region, in northern Gaza, in search of Palestinian resistance militants and trying to destroy military infrastructure used by Palestinian groups.

Again, Israel accused militants of using medical facilities for their operations. “IDF intelligence identified a regional UNRWA clinic that had been taken over by terrorists and turned into a weapons depot and hideout for terrorists in the area. The terrorists who barricaded themselves in the clinic fired at the troops and were eliminated,” the IDF said.

Meanwhile, Israel’s Minister of Public Security, Itamar Bem-Gvir, continues to defend the occupation of the Gaza Strip by Israeli settlements. “Encouraging Jewish immigration and settlement in Gaza – it’s in our hands!”, said Itamar, this Monday (21).