As Israeli troops pushes into Gaza City deeper, civilians are suffering without basic necessities and food. With the communications down for the second day, United Nations said they are unable to deliver aid to Gaza. According to the UN, the officials were unable to contact the ground support staff to supply the aid.
Amid the rising tensions, Israel’s war cabinet has approved letting in two fuel trucks a day into the Gaza to help meet the UN needs. According to an Israeli official, the decision came after a request from Washington.
The amount of fuel will give "minimal" support for water, sewage and sanitary systems in Gaza to prevent pandemics, the official said.
Abeer Etefa, a Middle East regional spokesperson for the United Nations’ World Food Programme, said Gaza was receiving only 10% of its needed food supplies daily, and dehydration and malnutrition was growing with nearly all of the 2.3 million people in the territory needing food.
“People are facing the immediate possibility of starvation...The existing food systems in Gaza are basically collapsing,” she said from Cairo.
Meanwhile, World Health Organisation (WHO) warned of disease spreading more rapidly than expected in the war-torn enclave. WHO said cases of disease in Gaza are significantly higher than expected as a result of people crowded together in shelters.
Over 70,000 cases of acute respiratory infections and over 44,000 cases of diarrhoea have been recorded in the densely populated enclave, said the WHO Representative for the West Bank and Gaza.
The European Union's commissioner for crisis management too on Friday called for ensuring the delivery of fuel into Gaza for humanitarian organisations.
“I most strongly urge the parties involved to stop hindering humanitarian efforts and ensure sufficient & non-interrupted delivery of fuel into Gaza to humanitarian organisations as well as to turn back on communications which are crucial for delivery of life-saving assistance,” he said.
I most strongly urge the parties involved to stop hindering humanitarian efforts and ensure sufficient & non-interrupted delivery of fuel into #Gaza to humanitarian organisations as well as to turn back on communications which are crucial for delivery of life-saving assistance❗️
— Janez Lenarčič (@JanezLenarcic) November 17, 2023
Amid widening Israel-Palestine conflict, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is travelling to Germany. Erdogan had called Israel a “terror state” amid rising attacks.
Meanwhile, during the Voice of Global South summit, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged leaders of developing nations to unite in the face of growing challenges due to Israel-Hamas war.
“This is the time when the countries of the global south should unite for the greater global good,” Modi said in a speech, referring to developing nations.
