UNRWA Spokesperson on the Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza: Press Conference | United Nations

Press conference by Juliette Touma, Director of Communications for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, on the humanitarian situation in Gaza. Around 1 million Palestinians have been displaced and 14 staff members of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)have died since the 7 of October, said the agency’s Director of Communications. Briefing journalists on Monday (16 Oct), Juliette Touma informed that the “siege on the Gaza Strip continues” and “UNRWA has not been able to bring in any supplies since the seventh of October” and its supplies “are running out and they’re running out fast.” Touma added, “Our colleagues who continue to be in Gaza, who continue to stay and deliver for people in Gaza, including those impacted by this war, are reporting that they are down themselves to one liter of water a day in our offices in the south, where we have relocated our center of operations.” The Director of Communications called this “a very tragic situation” and added, “Bombardment and airstrikes continued in Gaza. Our own staff are impacted as well, terrified, very, very worried for what the next hour will bring, let alone what the next day will bring. We keep always in touch and they tell us that they cannot even reassure their children, to tell them that it’s going to be okay, because maybe it’s not going to be okay.” Touma concluded, “What we are calling for at UNRWA is for the siege to be lifted, the siege on the Gaza Strip to be lifted, so that organizations like UNRWA, but also other sister UN agencies and other humanitarian agencies, are able to bring in much needed supplies into the Gaza Strip, to provide assistance to those in need.”