Northern Gaza Strip faces catastrophic humanitarian situation, UN report says

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), the northern Gaza Strip has become the epicenter of a devastating humanitarian crisis, especially in the cities of Beit Lahiyya and Jabaliya.

Despite an evacuation order from the Israel Defense Forces, tens of thousands of residents – between 50,000 and 75,000, according to UN OCHA – refused to evacuate. These residents are now trapped in unimaginable conditions.

Most United Nations efforts to deliver aid to the region in November were obstructed by Israeli forces, with the exception of a single World Food Program mission on November 11, according to a UN OCHA report.

Due to shortages of humanitarian aid, water, health services and security, the region is facing catastrophic collapse at all levels. The horrors of the ongoing conflict have left deep scars on the civilian population. According to UNOCHA, mass casualty incidents have become alarmingly common.

“My house in Beit Hanoun was destroyed on October 7. The day I was in Jabaliya, the raids were intense. I thought they would storm Beit Lahiya, but in the morning they stormed the Jabaliya camp. We found tanks behind the army in the school we were studying in, so we fled to Gaza City and stayed there for about 25 days,” said Ahmed Ashour, a displaced resident from Beit Hanoun, a neighborhood in northern Jabaliya in the Gaza Strip. ABC News in an interview.

Ashur added: “We pulled the children out of the rubble and they were torn to pieces. I feel great sorrow. What can I tell you? While I was in Gaza, a school was bombed during a raid. We found children, women, and people in pieces, and the largest piece was no larger than the size of a small hand.”

Sarah Hamidi, a delegate from the International Committee of the Red Cross, further described the conditions faced by civilians in northern Gaza.

“Survival, protecting loved ones and seeking shelter is the life of civilians in the northern Gaza Strip,” Hamidi said. “They face constant fear, ongoing explosions and severe shortages of food, water and medical care. People live among rubble and dirt, and children wake up to the sound of gunfire. Supplies have nearly run out, leaving hospitals and families on edge. “

The collapse of ambulance and civil defense services in northern Gaza left the wounded with little hope of rescue, according to Mahmoud Basal, a civil defense official in the Gaza Strip. According to him, in many cases those trapped under the rubble have no means of survival.

“For more than a year, first responders have risked their lives amid ongoing attacks and violence, while hospitals face severe shortages of fuel, food, water and staff,” Hamidi said. “Damaged roads and a shortage of ambulances force families to carry the wounded for kilometers or use donkey carts. Civil defense lacks the equipment to rescue people from the rubble, leaving families forced to dig by hand. Even getting to the hospital does not give confidence that they will receive help. “

With hospitals in northern Gaza barely functioning due to lack of fuel, medicine and personnel, some international organizations are trying to transfer the wounded and sick to hospitals in less dangerous conflict zones, according to UN OCHA.

In the transition process, institutions face a new set of challenges.

Earlier this week, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) transferred 15 patients from Al-Auda Hospital, located in northern Gaza City, to Al-Arabi Al-Ahli and Al-Shifa hospitals, the ICRC and the Palestinian Red Crescent said in a joint statement.

“Working in a conflict zone presents huge logistical challenges – damaged roads, slow traffic and coordinating with hospitals and local support such as PRCU. Convoys need ambulances, medical supplies and safe passage, but fighting, explosive remnants and checkpoints impede every step. unpredictable,” Hamidi said.

Without help, families in northern Gaza are left without basic necessities, UN OCHA says. Water and sanitation shortages have further exacerbated the public health crisis, according to UNOCHA.

The economic collapse in Gaza was devastating. According to UNOCHA, the consumer price index has risen by 283% since October 2023, pushing families into extreme poverty.

Ahmed paints a grim picture of life under these conditions: “We ate lentils and pasta – that’s what it was. There was hunger and everything was expensive,” he said.

Food shortages and soaring prices have forced families to go hungry, with children being the most vulnerable.

The Israeli government denies the existence of conditions causing malnutrition inside Gaza and says it is working with international organizations to ensure needed aid crosses the border into Gaza from Israel.

The situation in northern Gaza is a stark reminder of the human cost of the conflict.

“The current situation in northern Gaza is fragile – after a year of displacement, struggling to find basic necessities, watching loved ones killed or injured, and trying to keep their families safe, civilians are now faced with a situation where they don’t know what will bring next hour or day,” Adrian Zimmerman, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross delegation to the Gaza Strip, told ABC News. “Not enough of anything gets into Gaza and reaches civilians. People are calling us saying they are scared and asking how they can feed their hungry children.”