The Israeli military's refusal to grant access is hindering the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, as reported by a UN spokesman on Friday, according to Anadolu Agency.
UN’s Stephane Dujarric told reporters: “In the north, we and our partners are trying to increase humanitarian deliveries, but access denials by the Israeli military are preventing a scale-up.”
Turning to the availability of water for drinking and domestic use in Gaza, Dujarric said it is “shrinking” each day.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) is already reporting 152,000 cases of diarrhoea, more than half among children under the age of five, and the inability to do water chlorination to kill bacteria is aggravating the already concerning situation,” he added.
“Lack of toilets and sanitation services has forced people to resort to open air defecation, increasing chances of disease outbreaks,”
“Disrupted routine vaccination activities, as well as lack of medicines for treating communicable diseases, is further raising the risk of disease spread,” he added.