Humanitarian organizations continue to provide assistance across the Occupied Palestinian Territory despite facing significant obstacles including checkpoints, instability and access restrictions, the United Nations said Friday. Aid partners in the West Bank reported that their work "is being delayed and limited by a network of over 900 physical obstacles – including checkpoints, gates, roadblocks and other restrictions," UN Associate Spokesperson Daniela Gross told journalists in New York.
Humanitarian and municipal workers were struggling to secure access to three Palestinian families in Qusra village near Nablus who have been trapped since Tuesday following the establishment of a settlement next to their homes and the tightening of access restrictions in the area. UN partners and municipal workers had attempted to deliver food, water, milk formula, medicines and hygiene items to the families without success, Ms. Gross said.
The UN human rights office previously warned that "time is running out" before the families are forcibly displaced. Ms. Gross said UN colleagues warned that "efforts to protect Palestinians have been ineffective, with settlers reportedly reinstalling a tent that Israeli forces had dismantled yesterday."
Since January, UN partners have provided psychosocial support, case management and services for children with disabilities in the northern West Bank, where the humanitarian situation "remains particularly severe." Nearly 30,000 children and 15,000 adults have been served during this period.
In Gaza, humanitarians continue to provide vital aid despite persistent insecurity and restrictions. More than 300,000 children participated in summer learning programmes supported by UN partners as of last week, with organizations installing shade structures in 10 temporary learning spaces to address extreme heat in the territory.
