Israel blocks aid delivery to northern Gaza for 2nd time this week: UN agency

Israel blocked aid from entering the northern Gaza Strip for the second time this week, said Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).

“Today, the Israeli Authorities denied another UNRWA convoy with much-needed food supplies from going to the north where people are on the verge of famine,” Lazzarini said on X.

“The last time UNRWA was able to send food aid to the north was nearly two months ago,” he added.

“I’ve said it many times: this is a man-made hunger and looming famine which can still be averted,” the official said.

He stressed that “the Israeli authorities must allow delivering food aid at scale to the north including via UNRWA, the largest humanitarian organization in Gaza.”

“Meanwhile, children will continue to die of malnutrition and dehydration under our watch,” Lazzarini said, stressing that “the unbearable cannot become the new normal.”

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since the Oct. 7 cross-border attack led by Palestinian group Hamas in which some 1,200 Israelis were killed.

More than 32,100 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Gaza, and over 74,400 others injured besides causing mass destruction, displacement, and shortage of necessities.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which, in an interim ruling in January, ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.