'Israel' blocked 4 of 6 Gaza aid missions today: UN
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One of the denied missions involved the delivery of urgently needed fuel.
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Smoke rises to the sky following an Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip as seen from southern occupied Palestine, Monday, April 7, 2025. (AP Photo)
The United Nations has confirmed that the majority of humanitarian missions intended for Gaza on Wednesday were blocked by Israeli occupation authorities, deepening concerns over the territory's worsening humanitarian crisis.
During a press briefing, UN Deputy Spokesperson Stephanie Tremblay stated, "OCHA [Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs] tells us that Israeli authorities continue to deny a planned, coordinated mission. Today, only two out of six planned humanitarian movements that were coordinated with the Israeli authorities were facilitated." One of the denied missions, she noted, involved the delivery of urgently needed fuel.
Tremblay reiterated the UN's call for "Israel" to reestablish conditions that allow the safe and timely delivery of aid, stressing the urgent need for access to besieged communities inside Gaza.
The obstruction comes as part of a broader pattern. On April 10, UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric revealed that since the latest escalation began, Israeli authorities had denied 68% of 170 UN-coordinated humanitarian access requests. Convoys have not only been denied permits but have also been turned back or reportedly fired upon, further endangering aid workers and civilians alike.
Secretary-General António Guterres has condemned "Israel's" handling of aid, describing Gaza as a "killing field," and made clear that the UN would not participate in any mechanism that enables "Israel" to "control and politicize relief efforts" in violation of humanitarian principles.
Humanitarian Collapse
Meanwhile, Gaza's humanitarian infrastructure has now reached a critical breaking point. According to a statement released Thursday by the Government Media Office in Gaza, the Strip is facing "total humanitarian collapse." Severe food shortages, fuel deprivation, failing hospitals, and shutdowns of bakeries and desalination plants have created conditions that officials say could lead to mass casualties from starvation, disease, and medical neglect.
The office reported that humanitarian aid has been completely halted for more than six weeks, blaming the crisis on a "deliberate Israeli policy of blockade and starvation." Over 2.4 million people, including more than 1.1 million malnourished children, are now without access to basic life-sustaining resources. Long queues for food are a daily reality, and 37 aid distribution centers and 28 community kitchens have been deliberately targeted by Israeli strikes, according to the office.
Read more: Martyrs in Gaza, North as Israeli bombardment continues
This latest round of aid denial occurs amid a renewed Israeli genocidal campaign, which resumed on March 18 following Hamas's reported rejection of a US-sponsored ceasefire extension. "Israel" has since intensified airstrikes and launched a ground assault in densely populated neighborhoods of northern Gaza.
With over two million Palestinians trapped under siege and critical infrastructure on the brink of collapse, aid workers continue to sound the alarm: unless humanitarian access is restored without delay, Gaza's crisis may become irreversible.
