Attachments
30 October 2023 GAZA CITY,
Content on social media wrongfully purports that UNRWA kept stocks of food and other humanitarian supplies away from civilians who urgently needed them in the Gaza Strip. Such claims are erroneous, irresponsible and can seriously put all future distribution of aid by the Agency at risk.
In a statement issued on 29 October, UNRWA reported that thousands of people entered its warehouses in Deir el- Balah, which the Agency attributed to very high levels of distress and despair, caused by the war, the ongoing siege and aggravated by a total communication blackout.
When the war started on 7 October, UNRWA was forced to close its food distribution centres and instead deliver food and other supplies as much as the situation allowed.
Since 21 October, UNRWA has been receiving limited aid deliveries through the humanitarian convoys sent from Egypt through the Rafah crossing to the Gaza Strip. UNRWA trucks pick up the supplies and our teams store them in the UNRWA warehouses, where they are sorted, prepared and then distributed to people across the Gaza Strip.
Over the past day, we delivered hundreds of tonnes of flour to 50 bakeries in the Gaza Strip. This helped to lower the price of bread by half. UNRWA also delivered bread to shelters. Pre-existing supplies that UNRWA had in warehouses were being distributed to people in need.
The distribution operations include, especially, UNRWA’s 150 shelters where it is hosting more than 670,000 Internally Displaced People. This is four times the capacity that UNRWA had planned for as a worst case.
The recent break-in at our warehouse – our second largest – is likely to further complicate our operations, the largest in the Gaza Strip.
UNRWA calls on everyone to refrain from spreading misinformation, inaccurate reports and rumours. This causes unnecessary additional stress and panic among the Palestinian communities in the Gaza Strip, who have been living through siege and one of the most brutal wars in recent history.