An official from a United Nations (UN) humanitarian agency on Sunday again warned about the dire situation facing people in the Gaza Strip as the embattled enclave faces short supplies for winter and an inability to treat dangerous mental and physical health issues.
Georgios Petropoulos, head of the Sub-office in Gaza for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), stated that the situation in Gaza has reached a catastrophic phase, as people need tents to stay overnight but must sell them to buy food, leaving them without shelter to keep warm.
They are caught in a vicious cycle, he stressed, adding that Israeli authorities have introduced a new customs rule on some humanitarian aid which would also affect individuals from relief organizations as winter approaches.
"Our major issue is a lack of supply. We have to winterize it. We don't have this supply line that we need. We can't really help people, and we certainly can't give them the hope that they need with the dwindling supplies, especially for the winter. At current rates of supply it will take us more than three years to ensure that everyone that needs to be prepared for winter will be prepared for this winter. We called for more crossings with both for more supplies, but without a political decision from the Israelis, this isn't something that we think is going to happen in time to make sure that people are prepared for what's coming ahead of us," said Petropoulos.
"I also want to underline here that what people in Gaza eat is not just the food that we drain from UN and NGOs. They also rely heavily on the private sector that is able to bring them the things that we cannot. Fresh food, sundry items, shampoo are the things that you need to basically be well fed, hygienic, clean and to live your life in the best way that you can in a dignified manner," the UN official added.
He also emphasized that the needs of people in the Gaza Strip go far beyond supplies, as many struggle to receive necessary care.
"The humanitarian needs are not food and water, the humanitarian needs range for mental health -- for example, there are people in Gaza strip that have serious mental health issues. They need access to advanced mental health medicine, psychotropic medicine. These are not sustainably available. Some of these people have taken their own life, some of these people are a danger to others. The system cannot cope with this individual anymore. There are families that have lost their loved ones, there are unaccompanied children, almost 20,000, and people that need to get out. So we're talking about medical evacuations, we're talking about advanced medical care, oncological care. None of this is something that we today, as the United Nations can say, is being tackled to the extent that it should be," said the UN official.
UN official warns of short supplies for wintering, dire mental health issues arising
