UNITED NATIONS, Feb 6 (NNN-XINHUA) – Despite U.S. President, Donald Trump’s threat to take over Gaza, UN humanitarians said yesterday, they and their partners are assessing needs and scaling up aid operations across the region.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said, it was mainly concerned for the most vulnerable of Gazans, the 90 percent of the 2.1 million population already displaced from their homes.
OCHA said, the world body and its partners estimate that more than 500,000 displaced Palestinians returned to North Gaza alone, where there is an urgent need for tents and shelter materials. To address these shortages – and the impact of rain on families living in makeshift conditions – the Palestine Red Crescent Society transported 22 trucks of tents from southern to northern Gaza, on Tuesday.
UN partners distributed 1,000 kits to seal off makeshift shelters, to displaced family sites in Deir al Balah, central Gaza.
“Across Gaza, 22 bakeries supported by the World Food Programme (WFP), are now operational,” OCHA said. “Health partners continue to provide primary and secondary health services across the Strip. Yesterday (Tuesday), five ambulances entered Gaza to strengthen emergency response capacity.”
The office said, since the ceasefire took effect on Jan 19, its partners conducted rapid assessments at more than 100 non-functional health service points to evaluate rehabilitation.
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported distributing nutrition support for infants. Across Gaza, WFP has provided lipid-based nutrient supplements, to more than 80,000 children and pregnant or breastfeeding women, since the ceasefire.
The office said that, humanitarian partners screened more than 30,000 children under 5, for malnutrition since Jan 19. Of those screened, 1,150 acute malnutrition cases were identified, including 230 cases of severe acute malnutrition.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), distributed nearly 100 metric tonnes of animal feed to support herders in Deir al Balah and Khan Younis, benefiting hundreds of people working in the agricultural sector.
“To sustain learning activities across the Strip, education partners established three new temporary learning spaces yesterday (Tuesday) in Gaza, Rafah, and Khan Younis governorates, benefiting 200 school-aged children,” OCHA said.– NNN-XINHUA
