\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThe health system is ruined. Malnutrition is rising. The risk of famine persists,\u201d<\/strong> said Dr Hanan Balkhy, the UN World Health Organization (WHO)\u2019s Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean. \u201cWe are ready to scale up our response – but we urgently need systematic and sustained access to the population across Gaza, and we need an end to restrictions on the entry of essential supplies<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n Three weeks since the ceasefire began between Hamas and Israel that has allowed further hostage and prisoner swaps, the UN Children\u2019s Fund (UNICEF) issued a new warning on Monday about life-threatening conditions across the enclave<\/strong>. Some 60 per cent of buildings lie in ruins after more than 15 months of constant Israeli bombardment.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a winter storm ongoing, it\u2019s incredibly cold,\u201d<\/strong> UNICEF Communications Specialist Rosalia Bollen told UN News<\/em>. \u201cI have no clue how people can sleep at night in their makeshift tents. Lots of people who return to the north found their homes in rubble. They\u2019ve put up some sort of improvised dwelling on top of their rubble, but it\u2019s very, very cold<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n Humanitarian teams continue to assess the impact of winter storms on shelters in different locations of Gaza. In northern Gaza, partners are also preparing to distribute 1,500 tents to returnees in the governorates of Gaza and North Gaza.<\/p>\n Although thousands of aid trucks have entered Gaza since the ceasefire began on 19 January – the World Food Programme (WFP) alone\u00a0said that it had sent more than 15,000 tons of food into the Gaza Strip, reaching more than 525,000 people with food parcels, hot meals and cash – overall needs remain enormous.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re doing all we can,\u201d UNICEF\u2019s Ms. Bollen insisted. \u201cWe\u2019ve actually been able to scale up assistance considerably as the numbers are showing and we don\u2019t hold on to items; as soon as we can, we do all we can to immediately push items out to families. I know that’s the case not just for UNICEF, but for others as well. But you know the needs are just skyrocketing<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n The UNICEF worker added: \u201cWe humanitarians aren\u2019t magicians. We don’t have a magic wand that can help the suffering overnight.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n According to a situation update from the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, despite an increase in shelter support for vulnerable Gazans, nearly one million\u202fdisplaced Palestinians live in \u201csubstandard tents or makeshift shelters, with families resorting to\u202fsewing old rice sacks together for basic cover\u201d.<\/p>\n Many more Gazans live in crowded shelters in unsafe conditions, according to the\u00a0Protection Cluster \u2013 a\u00a0network of nongovernmental organizations, international organizations and UN agencies who work together in emergency settings.<\/p>\n For Gazans continuing to return to their homes in the north past the newly reopened Netzarim corridor that separated the north from the south, many find themselves confronted by a lack of basic services, including clean water.\u00a0<\/p>\n Latest damage assessments from the UN satellite service, UNOSAT, indicated that an estimated 69 per cent of all structures in Gaza have been impacted and more than 245,000 housing units.<\/p>\n \u201cThe governorates of North Gaza and Rafah have experienced the highest rise in damage compared to the 6 September 2024 analysis, with around 3,138 new structures damaged in North Gaza and around 3,054 in Rafah,\u201d UNOSAT said in its last update based on preliminary analysis. \u201cWithin North Gaza, Jabaliya municipality had the highest number of newly damaged structures, totalling 1,339.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\nPerishing cold<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Sheltering under sacks<\/strong><\/h2>\n