The Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Lynn Hastings, said yesterday in a statement that the conditions required to deliver aid to the people of Gaza do not exist: “If possible, an even more hellish scenario is about to unfold, one in which humanitarian operations may not be able to respond.”

　　Ms. Hastings noted that shelters have no capacity, the health system is on its knees, there is a lack of clean drinking water, no proper sanitation and poor nutrition.

　　OCHA reports that yesterday, 100 aid trucks carrying humanitarian supplies and 69,000 litres of fuel entered into Gaza from Egypt, about the same as the previous day. This is well below the daily average of 170 trucks and 110,000 litres of fuel that had entered during the humanitarian pause implemented between 24 and 30 November.

　　Meanwhile, Rafah was the only governorate in Gaza where limited aid distributions, primarily of flour and water, took place. In the adjacent Khan Younis governorate, aid distribution largely stopped due to the intensity of hostilities.

　　In addition, last night the main telecommunications provider in Gaza announced that all telecom services had shut down due to cuts in the main fibre routes. This followed a partial shutdown in Gaza city and northern Gaza a few hours earlier due to ongoing hostilities.

　　Humanitarian agencies and first responders have warned that blackouts jeopardize the already constrained provision of life-saving assistance.

　　Myanmar

　　The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffiths, has allocated US$7 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to help civilians displaced by the ongoing conflict in Myanmar.

　　The fighting in the country has escalated since late October, expanding from northern Shan State to Rakhine State, as well as the north-west and south-east.

　　More than half a million people have been newly internally displaced by the violence. This is on top of the 2 million people who were already internally displaced.

　　Despite insecurity, access and telecommunication challenges, essential humanitarian assistance is being provided where possible using a variety of flexible approaches. Local and international humanitarian partners remain committed to staying and delivering, having reached at least 2.5 million people in Myanmar through the end of September.

　　But the $887 million Humanitarian Response Plan for the year is less than one-third funded, at $254 million. Additional support is urgently needed to enable humanitarians to respond effectively and at scale to the escalating needs.

　　The CERF funding will help humanitarian organizations get life-saving assistance to people whose lives have been uprooted by the conflict.

　　Central Emergency Response Fund

　　Tomorrow morning, UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths will address the High-Level Pledging Event for CERF in 2024.

　　The aim is to galvanize greater financial support so that CERF can respond to the growing scale and complexity of global humanitarian needs.

　　In 2023, CERF allocated more than $640 million to support millions of people who need urgent assistance in some 40 countries and territories.

　　The event at UN Headquarters in New York, which runs from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. EST, will be webcast on UN Web TV and livestreamed on X and YouTube.

　　Posted on 5 December 2023