Humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip is processed at the Karm Abu Salem border crossing between southern Israel and Gaza, on May 30, 2024. AFP
"The aid that is getting in is not getting to the people, and that's a major problem," Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN humanitarian agency OCHA, told a media briefing in Geneva.
He highlighted the responsibility of the Israeli authorities at their Karm Abu Salem crossing, the main entry point for aid into the besieged Palestinian territory since the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza was closed by the Israeli occupation army on May 7.
"We continue to insist that Israeli authorities' obligation under the law to facilitate delivery of aid does not stop at the border," said Laerke.
"It does not stop when you drop off just a few metres across the border and then drive away, and then leave it to humanitarians to drive through active combat zones -- which they cannot do -- to pick it up," he said.
"We need that safe and unimpeded access to get to the drop-off point so we can pick it up and get it to people.
"We want all parties to live up to their obligations under the law."
Israel's bloodiest-ever war on Gaza has killed at least 36,224 Palestinians and wounded more than 80,000 others, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza health ministry.
Israel has created a man-made famine by closing all land crossings into the Palestinian territory, allowing only sporadic aid deliveries via the Karm Abu Salem crossing.
People in northern Gaza are already living under "famine-like conditions".
*This story was edited by Ahram Online
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