UN humanitarian inter-agency assessment mission reaches Gaza

United Nations, Sep 18 (IANS) UN humanitarians said that for the first time in four weeks, they were able to reach Northern Gaza, leading an inter-agency assessment mission to Gaza City.

However, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Tuesday said it was only able to reach the north by waiting for more than five hours before and at an Israeli checkpoint on the Coastal Road.

Access to the north remains extremely limited for aid workers from the United Nations and beyond, reports Xinhua news agency.

OCHA said that during the first half of the month, out of nearly 50 missions led by seven different UN agencies -- all of which were fully coordinated with the Israeli authorities -- only a quarter could cross into the north through the Israeli checkpoints along Wadi Gaza.

"Even when these missions could cross, they often faced impediments along the way, with some convoys stopped at gunpoint, shot at, or forced to wait for hours in the middle of a war zone," the office said. "These incidents posed unacceptable risks to our staff's safety and prevented these missions from completing their life-saving work."

OCHA said 20 missions were denied access before they even hit the road. Only two of the nearly 50 missions were fully facilitated as required.

The office said that when humanitarian missions in Gaza are not facilitated, it deprives Palestinians of the food, water, shelter, health and other services essential for their survival.

"People in Gaza need more supplies, including items as basic as soap, to enter the (Gaza) Strip," OCHA said. "It is also critical that these humanitarian goods and services are able to reach all parts of Gaza, wherever they are needed. Without exception, security assurances provided to aid organisations and humanitarian missions must be reliable and fully respected."