Diplomats go virtual to witness Gaza displacement site up close

And heard from some of the residents about their pressing needs, the United Nations said on Thursday. 

The UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), Ramiz Alakbarov, and his deputy, Suzanna Tkalec, led the online visit to the site in Al Mawasi, Khan Younis. 

“Just like journalists, diplomatic missions have had difficulty getting into Gaza since October 2023,” UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said during his regular briefing from New York. 

Water and work  

Via videolink, the diplomats observed the living conditions and relief efforts at the displacement site, interacting with children, adults and aid workers. 

At a distribution point, they saw how community members – including children – collected water carried by truck through a project operated by a local partner and funded by the UN’s OPT Humanitarian Fund.  

“Displaced people told the diplomats that they need sustainable water services, especially during the hot summer days, and cash-for-work opportunities to feed their families,” Mr. Dujarric said. 

“Participants in the virtual visit were also led through hundreds of tents crammed along the shoreline,” he added. 

Mr. Alakbarov thanked the diplomats for their financial support for relief efforts, indicating that more is needed to both sustain and scale up operations, including funding and political action to unblock persistent impediments. 

Deteriorating water access 

The UN agency that assists the Palestinian people, UNRWA, continues to provide support across the Gaza Strip, according to an update published on Wednesday. 

The latest Water and Sanitation Cluster monitoring, conducted in June, indicated a continued deterioration in water access, with some 84 per cent of assessed households experiencing moderate-to-high insecurity. 

UNRWA distributed roughly 79 million litres of domestic and drinking water between 16 and 30 June, reaching over 860,000 displaced people daily. 

During the same period, staff screened nearly 5,000 children aged between six and 59 months at UNRWA health centres and medical points, identifying 203 malnourished youngsters. 

In related developments, the World Health Organization (WHO) said it is providing specialized bottles for 45 infants in Gaza who were born with cleft lip or cleft palate, which prevents normal breastfeeding. 

WHO noted that the specialized feeding support required for the condition is increasingly difficult to access amid ongoing shortages of medical supplies inside the enclave.