LOC14:08
11:08 GMT
GENEVA, May 20 (KUNA) - The spokesperson for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Jens Laerke said on Tuesday that the UN has received additional permission to bring more humanitarian aid trucks into Gaza.
Speaking at a press briefing held in Geneva Laerke said that only five out of nine authorized aid trucks managed to enter the Gaza Strip on Monday through the (Kerem Shalom) crossing under UN supervision.
He also noted that distribution would take place through the existing aid system which has proven effective and is based on humanitarian principles that prioritize the urgent needs of the civilian population in the Gaza Strip.
Laerke warned that "the decline in aid access is deepening desperation and humanitarian suffering in Gaza", stressing the importance of maintaining an uninterrupted flow of humanitarian assistance to Gaza.
For her part the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) Louise Wateridge said the agency's warehouses in Jordan and in Egypt are packed with humanitarian supplies that should already be inside Gaza.
She stressed that this comes at a time when the population there is facing deteriorating humanitarian conditions and worsening famine caused by Israeli occupations forces, warning that time is running out as the Israeli-imposed blockade on Gaza enters its eleventh week, noting "the damage is already irreversible for many it is simply too late."
Wateridge added "Famine and the lack of supplies are only one facet of the catastrophe" pointing to ongoing indiscriminate bombing the killing of UNRWA teachers in a school-turned-shelter in (Deir al-Balah) as well as the killing of children and civilians in various parts of the Strip.
She called on the international community to take urgent action to deliver aid to Gaza and to end the suffering of the population before it is too late. (end)
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