Diplomats witnessed the Gaza refugee camp virtually from up close

The UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), Ramiz Alakbarov, and his deputy, Suzanna Tkalec, led an online visit to the site in Al Mawasi, Khan Younis.

“Just like journalists, diplomatic missions also have difficulty entering Gaza from October 2023,” UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said during his regular briefing from New York.

Water and work

Via video link, diplomats observed living conditions and aid efforts at refugee sites, interacting with children, adults and aid workers.

At distribution points, they saw how community members – including children – collected water brought in by trucks through a project run by local partners and funded by the UN. OPT Humanitarian Fund.

“The refugees told the diplomats about it they need continuous clean water service, especially on hot summer days, and the opportunity to earn cash for work to feed their families,” Dujarric said.

“Virtual visit participants were also led past hundreds of tents crowded along the shoreline,” he added.

Alakbarov thanked diplomats for their financial support of the relief effort, and pointed out that more efforts were needed to maintain and scale up operations, including funding and political action to overcome persistent obstacles.

Worsening access to water

UN agency that helps the Palestinian people, UNRWAcontinues to provide support throughout the Gaza Strip, according to update published on Wednesday.

The most recent Water and Sanitation Cluster Monitoring, conducted in June, indicated continued deterioration in access to water, with some experiencing a decline 84 percent of households assessed experienced moderate to high insecurity.

UNRWA shared roughly 79 million liters of household and drinking water between 16 and 30 June, reaching more than 860,000 refugees every day.

In the same period, staff screened nearly 5,000 children aged between six and 59 months at UNRWA medical centers and health centers, and identified 203 young people who were malnourished.

In a related development, the World Health Organization (WHO) said they provided special bottles for 45 babies in Gaza who were born with cleft lips or cleft palates, preventing normal breastfeeding.

WHO notes that the specialized food support needed to address these conditions is increasingly difficult to access amid a shortage of medical supplies in the enclave.