UNRWA aid coordinator warns intolerable conditions in north of Gaza ‘beyond imagination’

By Anjali Sharma

UNITED NATIONS – UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory Muhannad Hadi on Tuesday called to end the war and suffering in Gaza during his first visit to the area since Israel launched its latest military operation in the north a month ago.

Muhannad Hadi told that Al-Mamouniya School in Gaza City run by the UN agency that assists Palestine refugee, UNRWA.

UNRWA’s schools that are still standing as war continues, it now serves as a shelter for displaced people seeking safety in the besieged enclave where nowhere is safe.

“This is not a place for humans to survive,” he said. “This must end. This misery must end. This war must end. This is beyond imagination.”

Mr. Hadi stated that what he saw was “very different” from what he saw in northern Gaza in September.

“At this school, I have seen families and people living on top of each other. It is unbearable here. I can’t imagine how those people are surviving,” he said.

“There were 500 people in this school in September, and now there are more than 1,500 people. There is no access to bathroom. There are shortages of food. The situation is unbearable. Sewage water is everywhere. Waste is everywhere. The place has garbage everywhere.”

He noted a window on the second floor of the damaged school, mountains of garbage can be seen piling up in the yard – a symbol of the immense health hazards and harsh conditions that the people inside face.

Mr. Hadi said that critical supplies including food are scarce in northern Gaza. as he noted structure had been damaged by the bombing, he met a man who was preparing lentil soup for his family.

He told that the lentils had been provided by UNRWA and that the small pot the man carried was supposed to feed 12 people.

“It’s just water and lentils; no garlic or onions,” he remarked, noting that “one chili pepper pod costs 10 shekels today.”

He visited a temporary learning space called Al-Nayzak on Al-Jalaa Street. Tents have been set up on the destroyed thoroughfare to provide a minimum education and a safe place for local children to deal with the horrors of war.

In temporary school, 11 teachers men and women provide courses in Arabic, English, math, science and psychosocial support to 510 students.

Many were supposed to be in kindergarten, but the war has deprived them of the opportunity to learn in real classrooms.

He visited the headquarters of the Atfaluna Association for Deaf Children, where students taught him sign language.

The association provides lessons in English, Arabic, math, science, physical education and the arts to 35 children, some of whom are learning how to deal with their new disability after losing their hearing due to heavy shelling.

Mr. Hadi told that he had heard horrific stories from people he met in northern Gaza and stressed the need to stop the war.

“What people are going through here, no one can tolerate. Those are the victims of this war. Those are the ones who are paying the price for this war – those children around me here, the women, elderly,” he said.

The heads of 15 UN and international humanitarian organizations recently affirmed that “the entire Palestinian population in North Gaza is at imminent risk of dying from disease, famine and violence.”

He said humanitarian workers were not safe to do their work, and that Israeli forces and insecurity prevented them from reaching those in need.

Gaza’s Ministry of Health said that over 43,000 Palestinians have been killed and 100,000 injured,

UN estimates that over 1.9 million people have been forcibly displaced from their homes within the enclave, many of whom have fled from one unsafe place to another multiple times.