Aid convoy denied entry to northern Gaza, UN says
The UN children’s agency UNICEF informed the BBC that an aid convoy was denied entry to northern Gaza, despite possessing all the required documents, and noted that this is a frequent issue.
James Elder, a UNICEF spokesman who was in the convoy, reported witnessing the fatal shooting of two Gazan fishermen while waiting at a checkpoint.
In response, the Israel Defense Forces stated that the UNICEF vehicle’s documentation was incorrectly completed and accused Mr. Elder of presenting a “partial picture.”
Mr. Elder recounted that residents expressed they would welcome an airstrike on their homes to end their suffering, highlighting their desperation.
In an interview with the BBC’s Today programme, Mr. Elder remarked: “They’re so despairing, they’re so broken, they’ve lost so many family members, they have nothing left.”
He added that the areas of Gaza being denied aid were experiencing unprecedented levels of severe malnutrition, necessitating special training for doctors to handle serious cases previously unseen.
This statement followed remarks by World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who stated on Wednesday that a significant portion of Gaza’s population was facing “catastrophic hunger and famine-like conditions.”
Dr. Tedros noted that over 8,000 children under five had been diagnosed and treated for acute malnutrition, with more than 1,500 suffering from a severe form.
The Hamas-run health ministry reported that over 37,000 people had been killed, and hundreds of thousands more injured or displaced due to Israel’s offensive against Hamas in Gaza.
The conflict began after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza.
Mr. Elder described how he was traveling on a UNICEF lorry in an aid convoy on Wednesday, attempting to move from southern to northern Gaza.
He said that despite having all the necessary paperwork it took them 13 hours to travel about 40km (30 miles).
After spending eight hours at checkpoints they were finally denied entry, he said, “so 10,000 children who were going to benefit from nutritional supplies, medical supplies, did not”.
Mr Elder said he did not know why the convoy was denied entry, but said such denials were “consistent and relentless” and that there were hundreds of examples.
The IDF said in a statement that a problem arose because Unicef had used a lorry with a rear closed cabin which required prior coordination with the authorities, adding that Hamas frequently exploited closed cabins to smuggle weapons and terrorists into northern Gaza.
It said Unicef had initially claimed the lorry did not include a closed cabin but this claim turned out to be false.
“Once the situation was clarified, [Unicef] was offered to continue its movement northward without the mentioned truck or to submit appropriate coordination for the following day,” the IDF added.
“As long as the coordination process is properly conducted, passage will be allowed,” the statement continued.
Mr Elder also said that during the checkpoint wait he saw about eight fishermen trying to catch fish with a single net.
“Suddenly we heard a tank coming down, we heard… automatic fire,” he said.
“We saw two men on the beach, two fishermen fleeing, one was shot in the back, one in the neck.”
The Unicef spokesman said the WHO, who had paramedics in the convoy, called through to the IDF to be allowed to give the men medical support, but that support was denied.
He said he was later able to see the fishermen’s wounds when their colleagues were allowed to retrieve the bodies.
The IDF said it was looking into what it described as the “incident on the beach which was mentioned in the interview”.