The United Nations has called on Israel to open more routes into the Gaza Strip to facilitate the delivery of essential humanitarian aid to the civilian population.
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) expressed concern over the limited and unreliable access points available for aid deliveries, saying that the current situation hinders the ability to provide the necessary scale of assistance.
OCHA stressed that multiple routes are needed to ensure the timely and sufficient flow of critical supplies and services to Gaza, where the humanitarian situation has been deteriorating rapidly.
Since Israel launched a renewed offensive against Hamas in northern Gaza two weeks ago, relief organizations have reported severe hunger and increasingly dire conditions among civilians.
The call for more open routes comes amid heightened tensions and violence in the region. Israel, which controls several entry points to Gaza, conducts strict inspections of goods entering the area to prevent the smuggling of weapons, citing security concerns due to Hamas’s activities.
The Gaza Strip, a densely populated region home to around 2 million people, has been under a land, sea, and air blockade imposed by Israel since 2007 following Hamas’s takeover of the area.
Over the years, this blockade has severely restricted the movement of goods and people in and out of Gaza, leading to a humanitarian crisis.
In recent weeks, the situation has worsened due to ongoing hostilities between Israel and Hamas.
Aid organizations have been struggling to deliver food, medical supplies, and other essential goods to the population.
The lack of accessible humanitarian corridors has exacerbated the already critical living conditions in Gaza, with many civilians facing shortages of basic necessities.
Calls for the opening of more routes have become more urgent as international pressure mounts on Israel to ease the restrictions and allow for more effective aid distribution.
However, security concerns remain a major factor in Israel’s approach, as the country continues to face threats from armed groups operating in Gaza.
Humanitarian organizations and the international community continue to urge for a balance between security measures and the need to address the worsening humanitarian crisis in the region.
