UNICEF representative James Elder also noted the difficulties associated not only with the delivery of food and medicine to Gaza, but also with the distribution of humanitarian aid throughout the territory affected by the military conflict. At the same time, he accused Israel of deliberately creating difficulties, including bureaucratic ones, for the passage of humanitarian convoys. “Israel, as an occupying state, has a legal responsibility to provide this assistance,” Elder said.
Karl Skau, deputy executive director of the U.N. World Food Programme, previously said the problems were “like nothing I have ever encountered.”
“The situation in southern Gaza is deteriorating rapidly,” Skau said. “One million people in southern Gaza are trapped without clean water and sanitation in a heavily overcrowded area along the beach in the scorching summer heat.”
