Humanitarian workers are braving dangerous conditions to provide relief for people in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, and they will not give up on their efforts, the departing chief of the United Nations humanitarian office for the Occupied Palestinian Territory told reporters on Thursday.
Andrea De Domenico, Head of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)'s branch in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, held his last press briefing remotely in Jerusalem as Israeli authorities decided not to renew his visa, which was to expire on Thursday.
De Domenico said there are many international aid workers in Gaza like him who failed to have their visas renewed.
The OCHA official said that over the past 10 months, he has seen the "absolute physical and psychological exhaustion of an entire population." The OCHA warned that the hostilities, repeated evacuation orders, access impediments and other challenges are hampering efforts to reach Gazans with life-saving assistance.
Stressing that his work cannot be done remotely, De Domenico said employees of U.N. agencies and other international NGOs will keep providing humanitarian aid for people in Gaza and strive to bring peace and dignity to them.
"We learned through these ten months to satisfy ourselves with little step forward, [with] the mere fact that, the list that I made earlier about all the efforts and the delivery that the humanitarian communities and that includes NGO staff, national and international that are proudly and bravely doing their job every day in very dangerous circumstances," he said.
"We need simply to build upon this and increase our ability to reach and deliver [aid supplies to] people. We need to bring peace and dignity to people. That's the two things that they ask and we are not giving up on this," said the official.
The OCHA said despite all these challenges, the World Food Programme (WFP) reached nearly 1.2 million people with food, including wheat flour, or hot meals last month, although with reduced and irregular rations.
According to the office, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, known as UNRWA, launched a back-to-learning program for children in Gaza. In its first phase, UNRWA will expand ongoing psychosocial support activities, focusing on arts, music and sports and raising awareness of the risks of explosive ordnance. It will then transition to include informal learning activities, with reading, writing and math lessons.
U.N. not to give up on humanitarian operations in Gaza: official
U.N. not to give up on humanitarian operations in Gaza: official
