Alright, good afternoon all. In a statement, he said that the past days had seen the largest displacement of the Palestinian people since In those shelters they lack everything, from food to hygiene to — of course — any privacy. The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffiths, said that what has been unfolding in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory is a war conducted with almost no regard on impact on civilians.
Griffiths also noted that the families of the hostages have been waiting for the release of their loved ones for at least days, or at least some information about their well-being. Unfortunately, he said, since November, no hostages have been released and he reiterated his call for humane treatment and immediate release of all hostages.
Meanwhile, the heads of the World Food Programme WFP , UNICEF and the World Health Organization WHO , in a joint statement, said today that getting enough supplies into and across Gaza now depends on more trucks being allowed through border checks every day; fewer restrictions on the movement of humanitarian workers; guarantees of safety for people accessing and distributing aid; and the opening of new entry routes.
The agencies said that it is critical that Israeli authorities allow aid agencies to use border crossing points into northern Gaza, as well as a working port close to the Gaza Strip. Access to Ashdod port in Israel would enable significantly larger quantities of aid to be shipped in and then trucked directly to badly affected areas in regions of Gaza, which few convoys — as you know — have managed to reach. And just to keep you updated on your expected question of where Sigrid Kaag [the Senior Humanitarian and Reconstructor Coordinator for Gaza] is, I can tell you that she was in Jordan yesterday and early this morning.
She has now arrived in Cairo, in Egypt, and she will be visiting Al Arish in the north, obviously near Rafah, and we will keep updating you on her travels as we get information. Also, just to announce to you some travels by our Secretary-General, he will be leaving tonight to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, in Switzerland.
