Jabalia
\nDespite some progress in delivering food to Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip, the enclave \u2013 ravaged by Israeli bombardment and racked by hunger \u2013 remains in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, the United Nations has said.
\nThe UN and its partners have been able to get 37,000 metric tonnes of aid, mostly food, into Gaza since the October 10 ceasefire, but much more is needed, UN spokesperson Farhan Haq told reporters on Friday.
\n\u201cDespite significant progress on the humanitarian scale-up, people\u2019s urgent needs are still immense, with impediments not being lifted quickly enough since the ceasefire,\u201d Haq said, citing reports from the UN\u2019s humanitarian service, OCHA.
\nHaq was critical that entry of humanitarian supplies into Gaza continues to be limited to only two crossings \u2013 the al-Karara (also known as Kissufim) and Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossings.
\nThere is no direct access to northern Gaza from Israel or to southern Gaza from Egypt, while NGO staff are being denied access, he said.
\nEarlier this week, the UN said it had distributed food parcels to one million people in Gaza since the ceasefire, but warned it was still in a race to save lives.
\nThe UN\u2019s World Food Programme stressed all crossing points into the Gaza Strip should be opened to flood the famine-hit territory with aid, adding that no reason was given for why the northern crossings with Israel remained closed.
\nPalestinians across Gaza continue to face shortages of food, water, medicine and other critical supplies as a result of Israeli restrictions.
\nMany families also lack adequate shelter as their homes and neighbourhoods have been completely destroyed in Israel\u2019s two-year military bombardment.
\nChris Gunness, the former spokesperson for UNRWA, the Palestinian refugee agency, said Israel is committing a war crime by blocking aid to Gaza.
\nSpeaking to Al Jazeera, Gunness noted that tens of thousands of Palestinians \u2013 mainly children \u2013 remain at risk of malnutrition. He also said that if Israel doesn\u2019t meet its obligation \u201cto flood the Gaza Strip with humanitarian aid\u201d, then third-party countries must act.
\n\u201cIsrael has made it clear that it wants to commit a genocide against the Palestinians, it wants to ethnically cleanse them, and it wants to starve them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Captive\u2019s body returned
\nThe ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect on October 10, after both sides agreed to a United States-brokered 20-point plan aimed at ending the war. But since it was announced, Israel has repeatedly launched attacks, killing dozens of people, with its forces remaining in more than 50 percent of the territory.
\nMore than 220 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire took effect, according to the Ministry of Health in the enclave.
\nIsrael has also been carrying out a wave of demolitions in parts of Gaza under its continued control east of the so-called yellow line, where Israeli forces are stationed.
\nThe latest demolitions on Friday included residential buildings east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, according to Al Jazeera reporters in the Strip.
\nMeanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s office confirmed Israel received from the Red Cross the remains of one of the last six captives held by Hamas in Gaza.
\nThe Israeli military later confirmed that a coffin containing the deceased captive\u2019s body had \u201ccrossed the border into the State of Israel\u201d after being delivered by the Red Cross.
\nIt said the body was being sent to a forensic facility in Tel Aviv for identification.
\nAt the start of the truce, Hamas\u2019s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, released all 20 surviving captives. In return, Israel freed hundreds of Palestinian political prisoners, including the bodies of slain Palestinians from Gaza, many showing signs of torture.
\nOf the 28 deceased Israeli captives that Hamas agreed to hand over under the deal, it has so far returned 22 \u2013 19 Israelis, one Thai, one Nepali and one Tanzanian \u2013 excluding the latest body.
\nThe last six deceased captives include five seized on October 7, 2023 \u2013 four Israelis and one Thai \u2013 as well as the remains of a soldier who died in 2014 during one of Israel\u2019s previous assaults on Gaza.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jabalia Despite some progress in delivering food to Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip, the enclave \u2013 ravaged by Israeli bombardment and racked by hunger \u2013 remains in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, the United Nations has said. The UN and its partners have been able to get 37,000 metric tonnes of aid, mostly food, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":363344,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-513480","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n