United News of Bangladesh

UN humanitarians said on Thursday that the world body and its partners continue bringing supplies into Gaza every day despite ongoing restrictions, insecurity and funding shortfalls. UN teams inside Gaza on Wednesday collected hundreds of pallets of supplies from the Kerem Shalom/Karem Abu Salem crossing, including adult diapers, school bags and complementary food for infants and young children, said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Ramiz Alakbarov, the UN humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory, concluded a three-day visit to Gaza on Thursday. He stressed that preparations for the rainy season and winter remain a top priority. For this, additional support from donors is urgently needed. These efforts also require Israeli authorities to lift restrictions and expedite the processing of applications to take in critical equipment, as well as engine oil and other materials needed to operate that equipment, according to OCHA. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported on Thursday that, since October 2023, the United Nations and its partners have supported the medical evacuation from Gaza of over 13,000 patients, including more than 6,000 children. The WHO stressed that thousands of patients still urgently need specialized medical treatment that is not available in Gaza. The agency called for the urgent reopening of the West Bank referral pathway, including to hospitals in East Jerusalem, and for the necessary support to rehabilitate Gaza's health system and supplies to reduce reliance on medical evacuations. Items that are currently restricted, including ambulances and medical equipment, must be allowed in. In the West Bank, following Wednesday's destruction by Israeli forces of Khirbet at Tabban community in Hebron, the United Nations and humanitarian partners visited the site on Thursday and assessed the needs of the displaced, said OCHA. Male members of the community spent Wednesday night in caves, with the community's sheep, while women slept in a tent. On Thursday, partners provided tents and blankets to the displaced, said OCHA. "The UN reiterates that Palestinians across the occupied Palestinian territory must be protected under international humanitarian law as a population living under occupation," said the office. Ahead of the upcoming school year, education partners reported that some teachers were not permitted to enter Jerusalem on Thursday. They said that during the first half of the year, 224 incidents impacted education across the West Bank. These incidents directly affected more than 20,000 boys and girls and 850 education staff. Access-related incidents and settler violence accounted for more than three quarters of the recorded cases, said OCHA.