Gaza: UN Humanitarian Chief Highlights Humanitarian Challenges & Progress -Security Council Briefing

Acting UN Humanitarian Chief Joyce Msuya delivered a statement to the Security Council today (16 Oct) in New York City, recounting images of patients and displaced persons near Al Aqsa hospital, engulfed in flames. She said, “if such horror does not awaken our sense of humanity and propel us to action, what will?” Acting Under-Secretary-General Joyce Msuya emphasized to the Council that only a fraction of humanitarian missions in Gaza had been completed without major disruption. Msuya highlighted that in the first two weeks of October, fewer than a third of the 286 humanitarian missions coordinated with Israeli authorities proceeded without delays. Msuya also noted progress in health efforts, specifically the polio vaccination campaign in central Gaza, where nearly 157,000 children under the age of 10 were vaccinated on 14 and 15 October. She underscored the critical role of UNRWA, whose teams administered 43 percent of these vaccinations on the first day of the campaign. Algerian Ambassador Amar Bendjama criticized the situation, stating that "Palestinians are struggling to find food, basic food,” as the international community marked World Food Day. Bendjama also said Israel follows a “deliberate and calculated policy of starvation” targeting the Palestinian population. U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield acknowledged witnessing disturbing images from Gaza, noting, “Israel has a responsibility to do everything possible to avoid civilian casualties, even if Hamas was operating near the hospital in an attempt to use civilians as human shields." UK Ambassador Barbara Woodward added that the British Government had imposed sanctions on illegal settler outposts and organizations, citing an increase in settler violence and expansion on Palestinian land. Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya linked the reduction in donor support for UNRWA to U.S. policies. Commenting on needed ceasefire, he said, “we see that all the members of the Security Council are ready to do so. We don’t understand why the remaining members of the Security Council have to share responsibility for the madness underway in Gaza, if it only one member that stopping us from ending this madness.” Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa described the desperation of Palestinians, saying that nearly 400,000 people face the choice to remain in the Northern Gaza under bombing threats or to starve. Mustafa compared the situation to past incidents involving UNIFIL, questioning Israel’s willingness to respect international protection. Speaking to reporters before the Security Council, Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon, said that “terrorists have seized” an UNRWA facility, using it as a “weapons store.” Danon said “over one million tons of aid have been delivered via more than 50000 trucks, including over 700000 tons of food. The problem in Gaza is not lack of aid. The problem is Hamas which hijacks the aid, stealing, storing and selling it to feed their terror machine while civilians suffer.”