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Today's top news: Occupied Palestinian Territory, Syria [1]
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Date: 2023-12
Occupied Palestinian Territory
OCHA reports that as of last night, 100 trucks carrying humanitarian supplies arrived in Gaza from Egypt – the same volume recorded on most days since hostilities resumed on 1 December.
More than 120,000 litres of fuel also entered Gaza through the Rafah crossing yesterday. This is an increase from the daily average of 67,000 litres over the previous three days, but it is the bare minimum amount of fuel needed to prevent the collapse of critical services in Gaza.
Limited aid distributions are taking place in Rafah governorate. However, the intensity of hostilities and movement restrictions along main roads has largely prevented aid distributions in the rest of the Gaza Strip in recent days. There have been limited fuel deliveries to key service providers – as well as Saturday’s mission to Al Ahli hospital.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of internally displaced people who arrived in Rafah in the last week continue to face extremely overcrowded conditions both inside and outside shelters. They desperately need food, water, shelter, health and protection.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) reports that more than 85 per cent of Gaza’s population – that’s almost 1.9 million people – are now internally displaced, some of them multiple times. This includes 1.3 million displaced people who are sheltering at UNRWA facilities.
Today, Kerem Shalom opened as a second inspection point for aid from the UN and international NGOs. Once trucks are inspected at Kerem Shalom, they must return to Egypt before crossing through Rafah into Gaza.
OCHA hopes that the opening of this second inspection point, which will eliminate 100 kms of travel from Al Areesh to Netzana, will help to expedite the entry of aid into Gaza.
OCHA continues to engage with Israeli authorities on all options to increase aid deliveries to Gaza. This includes ongoing negotiations on the potential use of Kerem Shalom as an entry point into Gaza for assistance and commercial goods.
OCHA reiterates the importance of safe conditions on the ground in Gaza to enable the delivery of life-saving assistance to those who desperately need it.
For more to be done, at a minimum, another humanitarian ceasefire is needed.
Syria
OCHA warns that civilians in north-west Syria continue to be affected by the escalation of hostilities there – the most significant since 2019.
On Saturday, shelling struck residential neighbourhoods in Idleb City and the town of Sarmin, killing nine civilians, including three children, and injuring 27 others, according to local health authorities. The shelling also set fire to a city market and struck a displacement camp, destroying shelters for internally displaced people.
This was the latest in a series of attacks over the past two weeks. On 2 December, shelling hit a school in Idleb while students were present, injuring five children and one teacher.
Overall, since 5 October, fighting in north-west Syria has killed at least 92 civilians – nearly 40 per cent of them children – with nearly 400 others injured, according to local health authorities.
Meanwhile, in eastern Syria, heavy clashes in Deir-ez-Zor continue to result in civilian casualties and damage to critical civilian infrastructure, including water stations and schools. About 27,000 people remain displaced since late August when the hostilities began.
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[1] Url:
https://www.unocha.org/news/todays-top-news-occupied-palestinian-territory-syria-1
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