Decimated Northern Gaza Gets 61 Aid Trucks; 'We Went Back To Stone Age,' Said A Palestinian

UNITED NATIONS, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Nov, 2023) Sixty-one trucks Saturday hauled aid to northern Gaza, much of which was completely destroyed by the deadly Israeli bombardments, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Sunday.

The freight -- the largest number since 7 October -- included food, water and emergency medical supplies. Eleven ambulances, 3 coaches and a flatbed were delivered to Al Shifa Hospital to be used to assist with evacuations.

Looking around the vast devastation left behind by Israeli strikes, Namzi Mwafi, a 23-year-old Palestinian man, waiting in a long line to collect much-needed supplies, said, “We went back to the Stone Age,”

Mwafi told The New York Times that dozens of his extended family members are sheltering together in a two-bedroom apartment in Rafah, a city in southern Gaza near the territory’s border with Egypt, he says. The oldest, his grandmother, is 68; the youngest, a cousin, is 6 months old.

To keep them alive, Mwafi says he wakes up at 4 a.m., spending hours waiting for water at a crowded filling station. Sometimes, he has to fight to keep his place in line and sometimes there is nothing left when his turn comes.

When he is lucky, he pushes his heavy trolley home through the sand and the family rations the haul to about a glass a day each.

There is practically no gas or other fuel left in Gaza, according to the United Nations agencies operating there, so some people are building makeshift clay or metal ovens to cook. Firewood and coal have also largely run out, so families are burning stripped-down doors, shutters and window frames, cardboard and grasses. Some simply do not cook, eating raw onions and eggplants instead, the newspapers said.

Since Oct. 7, Israel imposed what it called a complete siege — cutting off almost all water, food, electricity and fuel for the more than two million Palestinians living in Gaza. It also launched thousands of airstrikes on the enclave and sent in ground forces to wreak havoc.

A brief cease-fire, the first since the war began seven weeks ago, began to take hold on Friday, and as part of a hostage agreement between Israel and Hamas, dozens of trucks with water and other vital humanitarian aid crossed into Gaza.

Still, it was far less than what typically came into the territory before the war, and there was no indication that the freer flow of aid would last beyond the four-day agreed truce.

Before the cease-fire, little humanitarian aid — far short of what Gazans need — had been trickling in. And so, from the north to the south, in tented camps, apartments, schools and hospitals, residents crammed together in ever-shrinking spaces have been struggling every day to meet their most basic needs.

Surviving has become a full-time, perilous undertaking, the report said.

"Days start well before dawn.

Tasks seem simple: Fetch water. Bake bread. Buy diapers. Stay alive," the Times said.

Mineral water trucked into the enclave in aid convoys has been enough for only 4 percent of the population, according to the United Nations World Food Programme. Some desalinated water is still being distributed in the south, but the north has no potable water sources left, according to the U.N. People who cannot access the scarce mineral and desalinated water rely on brackish water from wells, which the U.N. has said is not safe for human consumption.

Flour, too, is running out and most wheat mills have been bombed, according to the United Nations. Humanitarian agencies have managed to deliver bread, canned tuna and date bars to about a quarter of the population since Oct. 7, but distribution is hampered by fighting and the siege, the World Food Program said. Some farmers are slaughtering their animals, trading their future livelihoods for the emergency at hand.

The World Food Programme has warned that only 10 percent of the food Gaza needs has entered the territory since the war began, creating “a massive food gap and widespread hunger.”

“Wheat flour, dairy products, cheese, eggs and mineral water have completely disappeared,” in the market, Alia Zaki, a spokeswoman for the World Food Program, said this month.

The virtual collapse of the sewage system and displacement of about 1.7 million Gazans, who have poured into camps and crowded into relatives’ homes, have also brought on a hygiene crisis and illnesses that the World Health Organization warns could get much worse.

Diarrhea, scabies and lice are ripping through the population, hitting younger children particularly hard, the report said.

"Shops Are Empty. Banks Are Closed. Power Is Out."

Also on Saturday, OCHA said in its statement that another 200 trucks were dispatched from Nitzana, with 187 of them successfully entering Gaza by 19:00 local time.

In addition, 129,000 liters of fuel crossed into Gaza, said the UN humanitarian affairs office, known as OCHA.

None of these deliveries would have been possible without the Palestinian and Egyptian Red Crescent Societies, the UN office noted, paying tribute to the actions of the multiple parties involved in the effort.

The longer the pause lasts, the more aid will be sent in and across Gaza, OCHA said.

Welcoming the release of more hostages that happened on Saturday, OCHA renewed the call for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.

“And we hope the release of more Palestinian detainees brings relief to their families and loved ones,” the statement added.

The humanitarian pause has been in place since Friday morning and UN teams and partners have been able to scale up the delivery of humanitarian assistance into and across Gaza.

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