UN Health Official: US-Built Pier Insufficient for Gaza Aid DeliveryUN Health Official: US-Built Pier Insufficient for Gaza Aid Delivery GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – A senior UN health agency official has criticized the reconnected US-built pier off the Gaza Strip coast, stating that it fails to provide Palestinians with the necessary level of aid. Dr. Hanan Balkhy, WHO’s eastern Mediterranean chief, made the comments after aid deliveries resumed via the pier following its repair due to rough seas. “The pier has provided a little bit of support, but it’s not on the scale required by any stretch of the imagination,” Balkhy said in an interview with the Associated Press. “So we need to emphasize on the land routes to ensure quantity, quantity, and efficiency.” The WHO reported a 67% decline in aid delivery since Israel’s ground operation in Rafah, with over 50 trucks stranded at the Egyptian border crossing and only three allowed entry through Kerem Shalom. While Israel claims to have allowed aid trucks, the UN insists it’s too dangerous to transport them due to lawlessness, despite Israeli promises of a safe corridor. Despite the pier’s reopening, aid groups have criticized the plan to deliver aid by sea, calling it ineffective and a distraction from opening land border crossings. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, Israel’s military operations have resulted in over 37,600 civilian casualties and injured over 86,000. Over 1.3 million people displaced from Rafah are seeking shelter in tents and cramped apartments in central Gaza. Despite increased aid to northern Gaza, experts warn of a high risk of famine, while overcrowding in hospitals has led to fuel and medicine shortages. The WHO has also struggled to evacuate patients in need of treatment abroad due to restricted access through land border crossings. Balkhy highlighted the prevalence of infectious diseases, including scabies, diarrhea, lice, and rashes, due to poor living conditions and malnutrition.
A senior UN health agency official says the reconnected US-built pier off the coast of the Gaza Strip cannot even provide Palestinians with the level of aid they need.
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AHMED HATEM and KAREEM CHEHAYEB Associated Press
June 24, 2024, 10:57 am ET
3 minutes reading
CAIRO – The reconnected US-built pier off the coast of the Gaza Strip cannot even provide the Palestinians with the level of aid they need, the World Health Organization’s eastern Mediterranean chief said on Monday.
Dr. Hanan Balkhy made the comments after the US military began delivering aid again via the floating pier after it was removed for the second time due to rough seas.
“The pier has provided a little bit of support, but it’s not on the scale required by any stretch of the imagination,” Balkhy told The Associated Press in an interview. “So we need to emphasize on the land routes to ensure quantity, quantity and efficiency.”
The organization said that since Israel launched its ground operation in Rafah, aid delivery had fallen by 67%, with more than 50 WHO trucks stuck on the Egyptian side of the border crossing into the southern city. Meanwhile, only three trucks were allowed to enter Gaza through the Kerem Shalom border crossing.
Israel says it has allowed hundreds of trucks carrying aid to cross the border, but says the UN has failed to collect them. The UN says it is too dangerous for trucks to drive through the area due to rampant lawlessness, despite Israeli promises to build a safe corridor.
Israel’s war against Hamas, now in its ninth month, continues to face mounting international criticism over widespread destruction in Gaza and a huge toll of civilian casualties.
Aid groups have regularly criticized the plan to deliver aid to Gaza by sea as ineffective and as a distraction that has removed pressure on Israel to open land border crossings that could deliver aid in greater numbers.
The Israeli army’s ground offensives and bombings following Hamas’ surprise attack on southern Israel on October 7 have killed more than 37,600 people and injured more than 86,000 others, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. About 1.3 million people displaced from the southern city of Rafah, more than half the strip’s population, are now sheltering in tents and cramped apartments in central Gaza.
And despite some increased aid to northern Gaza, experts say the enclave is at “high risk” of famine. Overcrowded hospitals are struggling to keep the lights on due to a lack of fuel and medicine shortages, while also hosting many displaced Palestinians.
Delivering aid through two key land border crossings near Gaza was especially difficult after Israeli forces seized the strategic Rafah crossing with Egypt in May. The WHO has also struggled to evacuate about 10,000 patients in Gaza who it says urgently need treatment abroad.
The WHO says the last aid shipment to reach Gaza was a rare delivery north to Kamal Adwan and Al Awda hospitals.
“Almost everything is banned and some of the necessary goods are being delivered, but as I said, not on the scale needed for the people of Gaza,” Balkhy said.
She warned that the dire state of hospitals, poor living conditions and “significant malnutrition” were ripe for the spread of infectious diseases.
“We are talking about larger numbers of children and patients with scabies, diarrhea, lice and rashes of unknown cause,” she said. “Every time there is a lack of hygiene, infectious diseases caused by pathogens begin to flourish.”
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Chehayeb reported from Beirut.
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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Gaza at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
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