Gaza, MINA – Juliette Touma, Director of Communications and Media at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has warned that the current mechanism for delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza is “not working at all,” urging a return to the previous system that allowed hundreds of aid trucks to enter daily.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Touma revealed that around 6,000 trucks loaded with food, medicine, and essential supplies are currently stuck at Gaza’s borders in Egypt and Jordan, awaiting entry. She emphasized that the humanitarian needs in Gaza today are far greater than just food, as widespread destruction and the absence of security have pushed the population to extreme vulnerability.
Touma criticized the new system managed by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which she described as a complete failure, providing only four distribution points at best, compared to over 400 points previously operated by UNRWA before the war.
Reports indicate that the foundation was an Israeli initiative launched during the 2023 assault on Gaza, intended to limit aid delivery to Israeli-controlled areas and sever Hamas’s access to resources.
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Touma explained that before the war, despite more than 15 years of blockade, Gaza residents could still fish and farm, while UNRWA supported about one million people with food aid. Today, however, large-scale destruction has displaced people multiple times, even exceeding the capacity of UNRWA shelters.
In addition to food, residents now urgently need medicine, hygiene supplies, fuel, clean water, and child nutrition items.
Touma stressed that UNRWA has never stopped operating in Gaza, despite Israeli restrictions, including visa bans for its international staff. Over 10,000 Palestinian staff continue providing services, including around 15,000 medical consultations daily, maintaining shelters, supplying clean water to half of Gaza’s population, and managing waste.
UNRWA also reported that one in every ten children assessed in its Gaza clinics suffers from malnutrition.
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Touma highlighted that since October 2023, Israel has intensified efforts to dismantle UNRWA, culminating in a law passed by the Knesset banning the agency from operating in occupied Palestinian territories and revoking its diplomatic privileges.
She called for immediate entry of the approximately 6,000 aid trucks waiting at Gaza’s borders, noting that nearly one million children urgently need assistance. Touma urged the restoration of pre-war aid flows of 500 to 600 trucks per day under UNRWA supervision.
She concluded by emphasizing that lifting the blockade and restoring humanitarian operations are critical steps needed to save the lives of Gaza’s residents and future generations. []
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
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