Saudi Arabia, Japan strengthen cultural collaboration with new MoU    Slovak president meets Saudi delegation to bolster trade and investment ties    Civil Defense warns of thunderstorms across Saudi Arabia until Tuesday    Saudi defense minister meets with Swedish state secretary    Navigating healthcare's future: Solutions for a sustainable system    Sixth foreign tourist dies of suspected methanol poisoning in Laos    Hungary's Orbán vows to ignore war crimes arrest warrant for Netanyahu    Russia gives North Korea million barrels of oil, breaking sanctions: report    Al Khaleej qualifies for Asian Men's Club League Handball Championship final    Katy Perry v Katie Perry: Singer wins right to use name in Australia    Trump picks Pam Bondi as attorney general after Matt Gaetz withdraws    Al-Jasser: Saudi Arabia to expand rail network to over 8,000 km    OMODA&JAECOO: Unstoppable global cumulative sales over 360,000 units    Al Hilal doesn't need extra support to bring new players, CEO says    Saudi Arabia sees 73.7% rise in investment licenses in Q3 2024    Rafael Nadal: Farewell to the 'King of Clay'    Indonesia shocks Saudi Arabia with 2-0 victory in AFC Asian Qualifiers    Sitting too much linked to heart disease –– even if you work out    GASTAT report: 45.1% of Saudis are overweight    Denmark's Victoria Kjær Theilvig wins Miss Universe 2024    Order vs. Morality: Lessons from New York's 1977 Blackout    India puts blockbuster Pakistani film on hold    The Vikings and the Islamic world    Filipino pilgrim's incredible evolution from an enemy of Islam to its staunch advocate    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



UN agencies welcome aid convoy's entry into Gaza
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 21 - 10 - 2023

UN Humanitarian Affairs Coordinator Martin Griffiths welcomed the entry of an aid convoy into Gaza on Saturday, the first since the start of hostilities two weeks ago following deadly attacks by Hamas against Israel.
The 20-truck convoy that passed through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt includes life-saving supplies provided by the Egyptian Red Crescent and the UN.
The items were approved to cross and be received by the Palestinian Red Crescent, with UN support.
"I am confident that this delivery will be the start of a sustainable effort to provide essential supplies — including food, water, medicine and fuel — to the people of Gaza, in a safe, dependable, unconditional and unimpeded manner," Mr. Griffiths said in a statement published on his official account on X, formerly Twitter.
The delivery on Saturday follows days of deep and intense negotiations with all relevant sides to ensure that the aid operation resumes as quickly as possible and with the right conditions.
The Rafah border crossing is the sole one open with Gaza, and hundreds of trucks have been waiting there to bring food, water, medicines and other essential items to the enclave, where supplies are running out.
Griffiths said the already precarious humanitarian situation in Gaza "has reached catastrophic levels" since the hostilities began, and it is critical that aid reaches people in need wherever they are across Gaza, and at the right scale.
"The people of Gaza have endured decades of suffering. The international community cannot continue to fail them," he said.
The Rafah crossing is the sole one open with Gaza, and hundreds of trucks have been waiting there to bring food, water, medical supplies and other essential items to the enclave, where supplies are running out.
The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) also announced that medical supplies from the agency had crossed the border "but the needs are far higher."
Posting on X, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stressed the need for safe passage of additional convoys, protection of all humanitarian workers, and sustained access for health aid.
In a statement, WHO said that hospitals inside Gaza have already reached breaking point due to shortages and depletion of medicines and medical supplies, which are a "lifeline" for injured persons or those battling chronic and other illnesses.
The World Food Program (WFP) said three trucks carrying 60 metric tons of emergency food were in the convoy. The supplies included canned tuna, wheat flour, pasta, canned beans and canned tomato paste.
"This food is desperately needed as the conditions inside Gaza are truly catastrophic," said WFP Executive Director, Cindy McCain. Highlighting the need for continued, safe access, she said the 20 trucks were "an important first step, but this convoy has to be the first of many."
WFP has another 930 metric tons of emergency food items at or near the Rafah border, ready to go whenever access is allowed again. These stocks are needed to replenish the agency's rapidly dwindling supplies inside Gaza.
Since the start of the crisis, WFP has provided assistance to some 520,000 people and is expanding operations to support 1.1 million in the next two months. This assistance includes fresh bread delivered daily to people clustered in UN shelters in areas where access is allowed.
WFP supplies flour to contracted bakeries, which produce bread for distribution. However, lack of power and fuel have forced many bakeries to stop working, and one was even hit on Wednesday.
Over 44,000 bottles of drinking water were also in the convoy, which is only enough for 22,000 people for one day, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said.
"With one million children in Gaza now facing a critical protection and humanitarian crisis, the delivery of water is a matter of life or death. Every minute counts," said Catherine Russell, the agency's executive director.
The shipment represents a drop in the water of immense needs in Gaza, where large parts of critical infrastructure, including water and sanitation systems, have been reduced to rubble.
UNICEF said water capacity is at five percent of normal levels, and Gaza's nearly 2.3 million residents are now surviving on three liters of water per person per day.
Roughly one million people have been displaced, around half of them children, many of whom are now in overcrowded shelters where limited access to water, sanitation and hygiene are putting young lives at risk of disease outbreaks.
Russell upheld the need to protect children and for humanitarians to have safe access to reach them and their families.
"Above all, all parties must unconditionally protect every child from harm and afford them the special protection to which they are entitled, in accordance with obligations under international humanitarian law," she said.
UNICEF has prepositioned additional emergency supplies for up to 250,000 people at the Rafah crossing that can be brought into Gaza in a matter of hours, and more aid is on the way. — UN News


Clic here to read the story from its source.