The senior aid official in the region said on Thursday.Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory Muhannad Hadi said that the survival of two million people now “hangs in the balance”.Bakeries are closing rapidly for lack of flour or fuel to operate power generators and for over six weeks, the Israeli authorities have preventing all commercial imports from entering the Strip.Looting surge“At the same time, a surge in armed looting targeting humanitarian convoys and truck drivers, fuelled by the breakdown in public order and safety, has further crippled our ability to collect supplies from border areas and deliver critical aid,” he said.Pushed to the brink, civilians lack access to essential support they desperately need, while so far this year UN trucks have been looted 75 times – including 15 such attacks since 4 November alone – while looters have broken into UN facilities on 34 occasions.“Just last week, one driver was shot in the head and hospitalized, along with another truck driver”, Mr. Hadi recounted. “This Saturday, no less than 98 trucks were looted in a single attack with trucks being damaged or stolen.”He added that although agencies remain committed to staying and delivering, “our ability to do so is increasingly being called into question.”It is essential to reestablish the rule of law to allow safe and unimpeded access, he added.Violence in the West BankIn the occupied West Bank, UN humanitarians alongside the Palestinian Authority and other partners are assessing the needs of Palestinians affected by a nearly two-day operation conducted by Israeli forces in Jenin and Jenin refugee camp.Several homes and key infrastructure, including water and sewage lines, are said to have been damaged while power has been reportedly cut off in some areas, according to media reports.As in the Gaza Strip, children in the West Bank have also borne the brunt of fighting since the onset of the crisis last October.“Our humanitarian colleagues report that since 7 October of last year, four Palestinian children have been killed every week on average in the West Bank – marking a three-fold increase compared to the first nine months of 2023,” UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told journalists at the regular press briefing in New York.“Meanwhile, violence by settlers continues to displace Palestinian children in the West Bank,” he added.Of the more than 1,700 Palestinian displaced by settler violence, intimidation and harassment in Bedouin communities and herding communities, around half were children.

according to the senior envoy who has been at the forefront of these efforts since 2021.More than a year into the conflict, “we are at the point where diplomacy has failed in the situation where the geopolitics is superbly difficult,” Tor Wennesland said in an exclusive interview with UN News earlier this week.Stepping downThe veteran Norwegian diplomat is stepping down from his role as UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, after spending decades trying to improve relations across the region.He was Adviser in Norway’s foreign ministry during the process that led to the 1995 Oslo II Agreement on the West Bank and Gaza Strip and served as the country’s Representative to the Palestinian Authority as well as Ambassador to Egypt and Libya.“I have abused the patience of my family for more than 15 to 20 years on this file, and at a certain point in time you have to take a decision on how long you’re going to continue,” he said.Hope remains highMr. Wennesland continues to call for a ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all hostages, and humanitarians access to people on the ground.He believes that peace is still possible between Israelis and Palestinians, and the two-State solution, in line with UN Security Council resolutions, remains viable despite attempts to undermine it.He also expressed hope of progress towards ending the war, saying “you need to come to a time where you can properly sit down and think clearly on how you get out of it. That's where we are now approaching.”He began the interview by describing developments since the onset of the war in Gaza following the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attacks on Israel.The interview has been edited for length and clarity.Tor Wennesland: All we had done before under different circumstances - and I've been working on this file since Oslo II was signed - we had difficulties, we had bad times, but this time it was like an avalanche and it was hitting everybody by surprise.But it was hitting us at a time where there were no clear dynamics around this issue politically at all. So, we were very quickly into territory where the events of an armed conflict immediately escalated and actually in the West Bank also continuing a trend that had lasted for a while.So, I think honestly everybody who was involved in this was scrambling. I mean, everybody. And nobody had really any kind of clear sense on how to deal with it, whether that was the parties themselves, the regional actors, and also the UN.I mean, this was the biggest stress test the UN has been exposed to on this file ever, so we needed to patch up our capacity and see what to do and see how to move forward.But I can assure you, given what has been mobilized to stop this war over the last 14 months without any degree of success because we are still in the middle of it, I mean we are at the point where diplomacy has failed in the situation where the geopolitics is superbly difficult. And it has been reflected also in the work of the Council, and it definitely put big restraints on the UN and the ability of the UN to conduct its work on the ground.UN News: After all of this, do you think that the peace process, including the two-State solution, can still be revived? And is this still the basis for your discussions and talks?Tor Wennesland: Absolutely. And there is nobody - and I have had a huge outreach in my job here now - there is nobody who is defining it differently except from those who would like to kill it, and we have that happening as we speak.And my biggest concern is that we are losing the parameters we have been operating under here since back to ’67 and ’73 with the formative resolutions of the Council. But now we have an outright drive to dismantle the institutional structures of what was to become a Palestinian State, and it's happening with a speed and a drive that I haven't seen before.And the problem with that is that we would have it in our face, if the forces that would like to undermine a two-State solution would be succeeding. Obviously for the UN system, they are struggling with the systemic impacts of that for agencies and the UN as a whole; extremely difficult.But we should not forget that it is the undermining of the Palestinian capacity to - with support from the international community - strengthen their own ability to run Palestine.That is really under pressure, and even more so than the UN system, and the ones that are suffering are the Palestinian population. And I can assure you Gaza is absolutely a nightmare and it's in a way terrifying to go in there and see the exposure of the population to what's going on. But there is a fear factor [in] the West Bank as well because they see that the structures are crumbling.UN News: You're saying there are these forces, and it seemed like influential forces, that will undermine or are undermining the Palestinian State and the two-State solution. But what can be done right now from the UN and from the international community to fix this situation, the bleak situation?Tor Wennesland: Well, there is no quick fix on this but there has to be a resolve and a drive to do it. I have a very close dialogue with the regional countries. They are the ones who have most to gain from a regional stability situation, in addition to both ordinary Israelis and Palestinians.We should not forget that Israel is crumbling as well as a result of this. The Israeli economy is going down and there are tensions in Israel that I have never seen in all my period of work here that are now playing out in front of our eyes.The whole system, both in Palestine and in Israel, is out of balance and to reset it will take a lot of effort.We need to stick to two things. First of all, we need to stick to normal international principles and international law and not give that away for a second because then we give it away in a way that can be used negatively in other places.Secondly, we have to do whatever the UN can to provide humanitarian support to ordinary people on the ground, and we are doing that under massive constraints and with UN staff exposing themselves in a way that we have huge losses of staff as a result of this. And then we need to re-mobilize all we can to address the politics of a way forward.UN News: You mentioned to the Security Council that the current events will have impacts for generations and will shape the region in ways we cannot fully comprehend. What are the consequences you're most worried and concerned about?Tor Wennesland: The Palestinian population is a very young population. If we cannot offer any way out, there are others that will start recruiting. And we should not forget that a crisis like this will have negative effects across the board in the neighbouring countries and in the region in particular, but also other places because the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is something that is reflecting globally in the streets of the capitals of Europe, in US, in Australia, and definitely in the region.We are playing a poker game with a young generation that without any perspective on solutions, can find other ways to get an outlet for their frustration. That is very dangerous, and it's dangerous for all. And it's not only here. It is dangerous. UN News: I'll quote something else you mentioned to the Security Council. You mentioned that if the parties cannot find a way out, the international community must define the path forward. How do you see this right now with new developments around the world, with maybe new governments, new administrations, changes?Tor Wennesland: Well, the world is like it is. I mean, the point of departure is that we need to take the realities as given because this is the only way to do proper realpolitik.But what I said is that some of the really key principles that have been guiding the work on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Israeli-Arab conflict are now under pressure. And the only place where it is relevant to reset a way forward for the international community is based on decisions taken in the Security Council.You can have seminars and conferences all over the place, but then we need to anchor that. We need to anchor any path forward by decisions in the Council. And I think we don't have any time to lose on that.UN News: But what will encourage the countries with influence to push because the Security Council is divided, as we all know, for more than a year now?Tor Wennesland: Well, I mean, the Security Council is not divided on the issue of a two-State solution. It hasn't been for even one of the more than 50 to 60 meetings I have had in this Council for the period I've been here – so that principle is standing.There is a broad consensus internationally around these principles, but they are undermined, and we need to look at that reality very straight on. When the Council had its last political decision eight years back just before Christmas on (resolution) 2334, the Gaza situation was very different.The change in the Gaza situation has never been properly addressed by the Security Council in order to redress the territorial issue, the border issues, the occupation issues - the Council has never had a position on that. And it's not very difficult to apply the same principles that we have been upholding both in the UN Security Council resolution or in the agreements that has been formulated after the Oslo Accords.They need to be reapplied and there needs to be a Palestinian governance structure in the middle if we're going to get to a Palestinian State. And there is a consensus on that as well internationally, so we have to build on what we have, and that's a common understanding on how we apply the principles. But as long as it's not properly formulated, we don't have the framework we need in the aftermath of the conflict that is still unresolved.UN News: Supporters of both sides - Israelis and Palestinians - some of them, they say that the UN is not doing enough, especially on the political side. What would you like to clarify to them about the work of the UN and your own role and work?Tor Wennesland: Well, as I said in the beginning, the scale of this conflict has never been seen before and definitely not seen after the State of Israel was established.We have never had a conflict that has lasted for 14 months. We have never had any conflict of this intensity and with the losses and destruction we are seeing now.For sure we have been working to avoid the escalation we are now seeing in Lebanon and other places in the region, so we have never seen this before in the region or on the ground.So, in the first week of this conflict, that was my focus. Then it's a question of finding a way out of it and forward at the same time as you have very dynamic and intensive warfare ongoing.So, you need to come to a time where you can properly sit down and think clearly on how you get out of it. That's where we are now approaching. We couldn't get that done in November, where we were ready to be a part of the hostage evacuation.We couldn't do it as the war was scaling back and forth, and people were driven around the corners in Gaza. But we are coming to that phase now. So, we always need to get out of a conflict by the realm of diplomacy and decision-making that has a bearing that takes us forward.And, obviously, we need a ceasefire, we need the hostages out, we need a lasting ceasefire, and we need safety. I mean, we need safety for the Palestinians and for the Israelis.I have been in Gaza when we had a temporary lull because of a vaccination campaign conducted by the UN inside and it gave a short breathing space for people massively traumatized.We don't have that ceasefire in place, and we need to then canvass the international community and the regional partners to cement that framework and effort.UN News: Am I right to understand that you're giving the impression that there is some progress right now? We're moving into something?Tor Wennesland: I'm not going to go into details on what is going on and what is not going on. I would have liked to see that we would have had the chance to address some core principles and some ways forward way earlier.That was not possible. But when you work as a diplomat with these things, you have to be patient enough to wait for the time to come and we are getting into that time, but we have to use it smart and fast because otherwise we risk that this is slipping between our fingers.UN News: Before leaving your position, what is the one advice you can give Israelis and Palestinians for one thing they should do to ensure their own safety, security and peace?Tor Wennesland: We have everybody on the ground being massively traumatized, and it will take years, if ever, to sort that out by those who have been exposed. And here is why I'm saying that the international community needs to take a lead, because we are not the ones that have been exposed to the traumas. We need to take a step to the side, understand what's going on, and try to kind of formulate something the parties can somehow accept. And the compromises will always be grey.

amid a near-total breakdown in law and order and harassment of the agency’s staff by Israeli soldiers.“More than 100 trucks have been looted, primarily [carrying goods for] UNRWA and the WFP, basically, 80-90 per cent of the convoy on that day,” said Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA Commissioner-General.“What does it show? We [began] warning a long time ago about the total breakdown of civil order; until four or five months ago, we still had local capacity, people who were escorting the convoy. This has completely gone.”According to UNRWA, the incident happened on Saturday and involved a 109-truck convoy. “The vast majority of the trucks, 97 in total, were lost and drivers were forced at gunpoint to unload aid,” it said in an online post on X.Israel’s humanitarian responsibility“The Israeli authorities continue to disregard their legal obligations under international law to ensure the population's basic needs are met and to facilitate the safe delivery of aid,” the UN agency insisted.“Such responsibilities continue when trucks enter the Gaza Strip, until people are reached with essential assistance.”In addition to ongoing deadly Israeli bombardment – including of a residential building in northern Beit Lahia at the weekend which left dozens dead, prompting strong condemnation – UNRWA said that critical shortages of flour had forced all eight UN-supported bakeries in Deir al Balah and Khan Younis to operate “at diminished capacity for weeks. Many have been forced to shut down entirely. Without immediate intervention, severe food shortages are set to worsen, further endangering the lives of over two million people who depend on humanitarian aid to survive.”No viable alternative to UNRWASpeaking in Geneva on the sidelines of a meeting of the Advisory Committee which is tasked with advising and assisting UNRWA in carrying out its mandate, Mr. Lazzarini reiterated his warning – echoed widely by the international community – that Israeli efforts to dismantle the agency would have terrible consequences on Gazans who rely on it for education, healthcare and livelihoods, unless a viable alternative were put in place.“I keep being asked why is the agency irreplaceable? In fact, it is replaceable by a functioning state…if we do this and we do not have a viable alternative in place, we will create a vacuum. We will also deprive hundreds of thousands of children to the right of education, but by doing this we will also sow the seeds for more extremism, more hate in the future.”Spanish solidarityEchoing that message, Antón Leis, Secretary General and Executive Director of the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation and Development who chairs the Meeting of the Advisory Committee insisted that UNRWA was “irreplaceable and indispensable…for six million Palestine refugees in the Middle East - not just in Gaza - in the entire Middle East”.Mr. Leis underscored the disinformation campaign targeting UNRWA and stressed the need to explain the agency’s crucial grassroots work across the Occupied Palestinian Territories.“It is important also to set the record straight and explain what UNRWA does and what UNRWA does differently from other UN agencies and why - and this is a reality on the ground - why UNRWA is indispensable and irreplaceable.”Search ordealMr. Lazzarini noted that the diplomatic and political campaign against UNRWA was impacting staff on the ground, too: “We had already last week an incident where a female staff member was searched at her home by [an Israel Defense Forces] soldier and when they realized that she's working for UNRWA, basically they told her, ‘How come you work for a terrorist organization?’”Asked what the election of Donald Trump might change, the UNRWA chief maintained the need to listen to the aspirations of Palestinians.“We keep hearing that promoting a lasting peace is a priority and I do not see how you can promote lasting peace without addressing the question of the Palestinians in the region. So, of course, people are extremely worried that it might go in the direction of an annexation, but annexation wouldn't mean a lasting peace in the region if you haven’t addressed the question of the Palestinians.”

An update from the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, said that in the last two days alone, “six attempts to deliver lifesaving assistance to besieged areas in North Gaza governorate were blocked”.The missions on Tuesday and Wednesday had aimed to bring food and water to Jabalia, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya, along with protection and psychosocial support for children deeply traumatised by 13 months of bombardment.“People are trapped in residential buildings, they are hiding from the ongoing military operations around them, they are running out of food,” said Louise Wateridge, senior emergency officer with the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.In comments to the media, Ms. Wateridge relayed testimonies from staff and people in the north who described seeing dead bodies in the streets and a near total absence of emergency healthcare provision which had forced people to use donkey carts to reach barely functioning hospitals.Almost all of Gaza forced to moveAccording to OCHA, approximately 79 per cent of the Gaza Strip remains under active evacuation orders. “Palestinians continue to be directed to areas in and around Al Mawasi, in southern Gaza, that lack basic infrastructure and essential services,” the UN aid agency said.Latest data from the Gazan health authorities indicated that at least 43,736 people have been killed and 103,370 wounded in Israeli military attacks since 7 October 2023, with 24 Palestinians killed and 112 wounded in the last 24 hours.Equivalent to two nuclear bombsThe development came as a UN General Assembly special panel condemned the Israeli military’s tactics in Gaza since war erupted, following the “horrific” Hamas-led terror attacks on 7 October on multiple Israeli targets that killed some 1,250 people and left more than 250 taken hostage.Covering the period from October 2023 to July this year, a report from the panel maintained that Gaza had been hit by some 25,000 tonnes of explosives - equivalent to two nuclear bombs - by early 2024.The massive destruction that has been the result - along with the collapse of water and sanitation systems, agricultural devastation and toxic pollution - are “consistent with the characteristics of genocide” and will have an impact on the health of Gazans for generations, insisted the report’s authors.“The Israeli military’s use of AI-assisted targeting, with minimal human oversight, combined with heavy bombs, underscores Israel’s disregard of its obligation to distinguish between civilians and combatants and take adequate safeguards to prevent civilian deaths,” said the UN Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories.‘Starvation as a method of war’“Through its siege over Gaza, obstruction of humanitarian aid, alongside targeted attacks and killing of civilians and aid workers, despite repeated UN appeals, binding orders from the International Court of Justice and resolutions of the Security Council, Israel is intentionally causing death, starvation and serious injury, using starvation as a method of war and inflicting collective punishment on the Palestinian population,” the Committee maintained.Palestinian women mocked and shamedOn the ground in Gaza, Israeli soldiers were also found to have engaged in “dehumanising, cruel and humiliating behaviour towards Palestinians, including women and children”, the committee said, alleging that troops had shared photos on social media of Palestinian women “aimed at mocking, shaming and humiliating them”.The panel was established by the UN General Assembly in December 1968 to examine the human rights situation in the occupied Syrian Golan, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.The Committee’s Member States - Malaysia, Senegal and Sri Lanka - called on Israel and Palestinian armed groups “to urgently agree to a lasting ceasefire, release all hostages as well as detainees held arbitrarily”. provide unfettered ICRC access to those in detention and open all border crossings to allow life-saving humanitarian aid into Gaza at scale.End ‘smear campaign’ against UNRWAThe panel also condemned the “ongoing smear campaign” against the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, and expressed concern at the “deliberate silencing of reporting” on the conflict in Gaza. It said that “escalating media censorship” by Israel and the “suppression of dissent and targeting of journalists” were “deliberate efforts to block global access to information”.The Committee also insisted that social media companies had “disproportionately removed ‘pro-Palestinian content’, in comparison with posts inciting violence against Palestinians”. Its report will be presented to the 79th Session of the UN General Assembly on 18 November 2024.