UN team reached northern Gaza for 'first time' in 4 weeks, says official

WASHINGTON

A UN team reached the northern part of the embattled Gaza Strip for the first time in about a month, a UN official said Tuesday.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) “tells us that its team was able to reach northern Gaza for the first time in four weeks," spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters.

OCHA was leading an inter-agency assessment mission to Gaza City, he said.

"However, they were only able to reach the north after being forced to wait for more than five hours before and at the Israeli checkpoint on the Coastal Road,” he added.

"OCHA warns that access to the north remains extremely limited for aid workers from the UN and other organizations.”

'Unacceptable risks to our staff's safety'

During the first half of September, out of nearly 50 missions led by seven different UN agencies, only a quarter could cross into the north through the Israeli checkpoints along Wadi Gaza.

"Even when these missions could cross, they often faced impediments along the way, with some convoys stopped at gunpoint, shot at, or forced to wait for hours in the middle of a war zone," Dujarric said.

"These incidents posed unacceptable risks to our staff’s safety and prevented these missions from completing their life-saving work.”

Despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire, Israel has continued its brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip following an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last Oct. 7.

In nearly a year of Israeli attacks, more than 41,200 people, mostly women and children, have been killed and over 95,400 injured, according to local health authorities.

The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the territory amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel also faces accusations of genocide for its actions in Gaza at the International Court of Justice.