By Anjali Sharma
UNITED NATIONS – UN humanitarians warned on Wednesday that weeks of deadly Israeli military raids in the occupied West Bank have turned Palestinian communities into “battlefields” and left 40,000 people homeless.
The violence has seen exchanges of fire between Israeli troops and Palestinian militants and the use of bulldozers in refugee camps for the first time in 20 years which have destroyed public services, including vital electricity and water networks.
Israel’s defence minister said forces could remain in the camps for the “coming year”.
Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UNRWA said that “fear, uncertainty, and grief once again prevail. Affected camps lie in ruins…Destruction of public infrastructure, bulldozing roads and access restrictions are common place.”
Over 50 people including children have been killed since Israeli military raids started five weeks ago, the UN agency said.
It warned that the West Bank “is becoming a battlefield” where ordinary Palestinians are the first and worst to suffer.
UN aid coordinating office condemned the “lethal, war-like tactics” being employed by the Israeli military against Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank.
OCHA confirmed civilian casualties and mass displacement after a two-day Israeli military raid in the northern town of Qabatiya in Jenin governorate that ended on Monday.
Palestinians were detained in the operation, OCHA noted, before reiterating deep concerns about the use of excessive force against civilians and the additional humanitarian needs among people left homeless.
OCHA said that UN partners on the ground are doing their utmost to help people uprooted by the violence despite growing “physical and administrative.”
WFP reached 190,000 people in January with cash assistance and has provided one-off cash assistance
UN and its humanitarian partners have scale up food security and livelihood support, while six children reportedly died from the cold.
They said that needs remain enormous amid desperate humanitarian conditions caused by 15 months of constant Israeli bombardment sparked by Hamas-led terror attacks on Israel that left 1,200 dead and some 250 people captured as hostages.
OCHA said that 6 children from the Gaza Strip have died in recent days because to the severe cold, bringing to 15 the total number of youngsters killed by the winter conditions.
Over 800 trucks entered the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, OCHA said.
WFP has brought more than 30,000 tonnes of food into Gaza. More than 60 kitchens supported by the UN agency across the Strip have handed out nearly 10 million meals, including in North Gaza and Rafah in the south.
UNRWA has reached 1.3 million people with flour and reached about two million people with food parcels since the start of the ceasefire.
Food and Agriculture Organization reported that it has delivered animal feed to northern Gaza for the first time since the escalation of hostilities.
The aid delivery last week has helped 146 families with livestock in Gaza City alongside another 980 in Deir al Balah.
FAO distributed more than 570 metric tonnes of animal feed across the Gaza Strip to some 2,300 families with livestock.
OCHA noted in addition that aid partners working in education have identified additional schools in Rafah, Khan Younis and Deir al Balah that were used as shelters for displaced people.
“These schools will be assessed and repaired to prepare for their reopening,” it added.
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