Medical material storage of Kamal Adwan hospital is destroyed during Israel's raid on October 25. (photo: AFP)

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported on October 26 that almost every health facility and shelter in northern Gaza has been destroyed.

Besieged northern Gaza in danger

Joyce Msuya, acting Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, said hospitals have been damaged and health workers detained. Shelters have been emptied and burned down. UN sources said 100,000 Palestinians are besieged in a small area without food or medical supplies.

The Gazan health ministry informed the WHO that Kamal Adwan Hospital, one of the last functioning hospitals in the north, has been short of supplies since Israeli forces raided it on October 25. The hospital is treating about 600 patients and sheltering many medical staff and citizens.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said an attack by Israeli forces on a hospital compound in northern Gaza had exacerbated the crisis, as some 200 patients are in need of emergency treatment and the continuing violence has disrupted a polio vaccination campaign.

At a UN Security Council meeting on the Middle East on Monday UN Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East and Asia Pacific Khaled Khiari said: “The postpone of the final phase of the polio vaccination campaign in northern Gaza is putting the lives of thousands of children at risk. Living conditions in northern Gaza, especially in around Jabalia, Bethlehem and Beit Hanoun, are becoming unbearable.”

Observers say Israel seems intent on dividing northern Gaza from the rest of the Gaza Strip, forcing Palestinian civilians to leave this area permanently, and creating a new security buffer zone for Israel.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said: “The extremely limited access to this part of Gaza, next to no aid has reached the area in weeks, with unlawful restrictions remaining and many are now facing starvation. Communication with the outside world remains extremely limited. Unimaginably, the situation in north Gaza is getting worse by the days. The Israeli government's policies and practices risk emptying the area of all Palestinians.”

UN humanitarian and health agencies warn that the entire population of northern Gaza is at risk of dying. (photo: KT)

Israel-UN tension intensifies

International efforts to pressure the Israeli government to resolve the humanitarian crisis in northern Gaza became more difficult on Monday when the Israeli Parliament passed a law banning the UN Palestine refugee agency (UNRWA) from operating in Israel. The agency will not be allowed to have representatives, provide services, or conduct any activities, directly or indirectly, in Israel. It will have almost no access to any part of the Gaza Strip and aid delivery to northern Gaza will become increasingly difficult. Israel has also declared the UN Secretary General 'persona non grata' and barred him from entering Israel.

Responding to the Israeli government’s moves, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said allegations against the UNRWA staff made earlier this year were thoroughly investigated and there is no justification for Israel to sever ties with the UN agency, which Lammy said goes against Israel's own interests.

Meanwhile, US State Department spokesman Mathew Miller said the US government has repeatedly voiced concern about Israel’s intention to ban the UN Palestine refugee agency. The US opposes any move to divide northern Gaza, said Miller. “We’d clearly reject any effort to create a siege, to starve civilians, to walk northern Gaza off from the rest of Gaza. And we've made clear to them that we want to see humanitarian assistance, we want to see civilians protected.”

Many countries and organizations have criticized the ban, saying it sets a dangerous precedent, goes against the spirit of the UN Charter, and worsens the suffering of the Palestinian people in Gaza.

Adnan Abu Hasna, a media adviser to the UN Palestine refugee agency, said Israel's ban will mean the collapse of the humanitarian process in Gaza.