The United Nations said 11 of its staff working for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) were killed in ongoing Israeli raids on the Gaza Strip since last Saturday, while several UN organizations warned of an imminent humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.
UNRWA said the Gaza Strip would witness a humanitarian catastrophe if safe corridors were not opened for aid to arrive.
UNRWA spokesman Adnan Abu Hasna said that the Gaza Strip will witness an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe if safe corridors are not opened for the arrival of humanitarian aid, including medical materials, food and water.
He pointed out that Israel is closing all crossings with the Gaza Strip, which made it impossible for any humanitarian aid to enter, and that the coming hours will see the depletion of fuel in Gaza, and the departure of hospitals from service.
Adnan added that "the continuation of the situation means that the Gaza Strip will be without food within two weeks."
Health and relief workers have not been spared from being targeted by the occupation (Reuters)
Targeting aid workers
For his part, the spokesman for the World Health Organization, Tariq Jasarevic, said that the organization's staff are informed of the killing of humanitarian workers in Gaza, pointing out that the occupation attacks target health facilities and medical teams, and that the killing of paramedics is contrary to international humanitarian law.
Jasarevich told Al Jazeera that medical equipment in all Gaza hospitals is running out, calling for safe humanitarian corridors to evacuate the wounded.
Inas Abu Khalaf, head of the regional office of Médecins Sans Frontières, said there was no safe place in the Gaza Strip.
Inas added – in an interview with Al Jazeera – that medical teams are unable to move freely in Gaza, noting that the Strip is living under a siege that worsens with Israeli raids.
On the ground, the Gaza Civil Defense said that its crews are unable to deal with the huge number of facilities, houses and neighborhoods completely destroyed.
He stressed that there are still many citizens alive under the rubble of destroyed homes and facilities, and that they are unable to reach them, pointing out that many citizens lost their lives under the rubble due to the delay in the arrival of relief teams, due to the lack of material and human resources and poor equipment.
The Civil Defense called on the international community and humanitarian and human rights institutions to intervene urgently and immediately, and to pressure the occupation to stop this aggression against the people of Gaza.
Calls for continued aid
On the other hand, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said that the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is dangerous and the ongoing war must be stopped, and humanitarian and relief aid must be provided to the Strip.
This comes as the Egyptian minister received both the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, and the Commissioner-General of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini.
In the context, two Egyptian security sources said on Wednesday that Egypt discussed plans with the United States and other countries to provide humanitarian aid across its border with the Gaza Strip, under a limited ceasefire.
Reuters quoted the two sources, who asked not to be identified, as saying the aid would pass through the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.
Norway, which chairs an international donor group for Palestine, urged the international community on Wednesday to continue providing aid to the Palestinians.
Norwegian Foreign Minister Aniken Whitfelt said the situation would deteriorate if the international community suspended or scaled back its assistance at this critical juncture.
The Israeli occupation army has been intensifying its raids on the Gaza Strip for 5 days, leaving 1055 martyrs and 5184 wounded.