United Nations, United States

Even as the global community continues to raise alarm over the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, an Oxfam report on Sunday (Dec 22) revealed that in the last two-and-a-half months, since October, only 12 trucks distributed aid amid Israel blockades.

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Systematic 'cruelty'?

Raising alarm over the worsening situation, the aid group said, "Of the meagre 34 trucks of food and water given permission to enter the North Gaza Governorate over the last 2.5 months, deliberate delays and systematic obstructions by the Israeli military meant that just 12 managed to distribute aid to starving Palestinian civilians."

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This count, as per AFP, includes those made through Saturday (Dec 21).

Just a day after Israel slammed Pope Francis for referring to the bombing of children in Gaza as an act of "cruelty," Oxfam reported instances where shelters were destroyed. The aid organisation said that even when deliveries were completed, some were disrupted by subsequent shelling of shelter locations within hours.

"For three of these, once the food and water had been delivered to the school where people were sheltering, it was then cleared and shelled within hours," it alleged.

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The aid organisation pointed out that delays and restrictions have left thousands of Palestinians without adequate supplies, deepening the ongoing crisis in the besieged region. Oxfam claimed that it and other international aid groups have been "continually prevented from delivering life-saving aid" in northern Gaza since October 6 this year, when Israel intensified its bombardment of the territory. 

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"Thousands of people are estimated to still be cut off, but with humanitarian access blocked it's impossible to know exact numbers," adding that "At the beginning of December, humanitarian organisations operating in Gaza were receiving calls from vulnerable people trapped in homes and shelters that had completely run out of food and water." 

The Oxfam revelations come days after Human Rights Watch recently alleged that Israeli authorities have deliberately restricted water access in Gaza, with devastating consequences. On Thursday (Dec 19) in a report focused on water, the New York-based organization said deliberate efforts by Israeli authorities "of a systematic nature" to deprive Gazans of water, which had "likely caused thousands of deaths... and will likely continue to cause deaths."

(With inputs from agencies)