UNRWA Archives - CrossFireArarbia

Baby Dies From The Cold in Gaza

CrossFireArabia
January 11, 2026

A two-month-old infant has died in Gaza City from exposure to extreme cold, Al Mayadeen reported on Sunday, as the Israeli occupation continues to tighten its blockade on the Gaza Strip, preventing the entry of essential humanitarian supplies, including food, heating materials, and weather protection.

According to Palestinian sources, the infant was identified as Muhammad Wissam Abu Harbid. His death occurred just hours after another infant, Mahmoud al-Aqra, also died from exposure to extreme cold in Gaza, underscoring the growing toll of winter conditions on the Strip’s most vulnerable residents.

The deaths come as severe winter storms sweep across the region, further deteriorating conditions for displaced families already facing acute shortages of food, medical care, and adequate shelter.

The incident is the latest in a series of ceasefire violations, as Israeli forces continue shelling multiple areas of the Strip while maintaining restrictions that block life-saving aid.

Aid Blocked at Borders

While UNRWA and other humanitarian agencies continue distributing what limited aid is available inside Gaza, they say meaningful expansion of operations remains impossible without unrestricted access.

Aid convoys are frequently delayed at military checkpoints, trucks are turned back without explanation, and critical supplies remain stranded outside Gaza’s borders.

Winter conditions have further intensified the crisis. Heavy rainfall has flooded displacement camps, forcing families to burn scraps of wood for warmth. Doctors warn that the combined effects of cold exposure, hunger, and untreated illness are creating life-threatening conditions, particularly for children.

UNRWA has renewed calls for the complete lifting of restrictions on humanitarian aid, stressing that the crisis in Gaza is not caused by a lack of supplies, but by their deliberate obstruction. “The survival of Gaza’s children depends on whether the international community upholds its legal and moral obligations,” the agency said.

The agency emphasized that humanitarian access is a legal obligation under international law, not a matter of choice, warning that each day of delay deepens an already catastrophic situation for Gaza’s most vulnerable residents.

Palestine Chronicle

News

UN Begins Clearing 60 M. Tons of Debris in Gaza

CrossFireArabia
October 21, 2025

The UN on Monday said it was encouraged by renewed Gaza ceasefire commitments, warning that recent violence risked undermining fragile progress, as recovery efforts – including a large-scale rubble removal project – slowly gain momentum across the war-ravaged enclave.

“We are encouraged that the parties have reaffirmed their commitments to implementing the ceasefire in Gaza and commend the steadfast efforts of the mediators,” said UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric at the regular news briefing in New York.

“We do, however, remain concerned by all acts of violence in Gaza and the reported attacks and strikes that took place yesterday.”

Mr. Dujarric urged all sides to honour their obligations and avoid any action that could lead to renewed hostilities, reiterating the Secretary-General’s call for the release of the remains of all deceased hostages.

Over the weekend, Humanitarian Affairs chief Tom Fletcher wrapped up a visit to Gaza, where he met aid workers and inspected UN-supported projects, including a child nutrition centre, a hospital and a road clearance operation.

Debris removal underway

In Gaza City, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) has begun a major debris removal operation – the first phase of a comprehensive debris management plan aimed at restoring access to essential services such as hospitals and schools.

“Rubble represents a major challenge in Gaza, where the estimated amount is between 55 and 60 million tonnes,” said Jaco Cilliers, UNDP Representative in Palestine.

The UN agency taking the vital first step by clearing roads and recycling materials to pave new access routes and temporary facilities.

Dozens of diggers and other vehicles have been deployed along Al-Jalaa Street, where UNDP says it is working around the clock to open roads that have been blocked for months.

“This is a very arduous process and will take many years to complete,” Mr. Cilliers cautioned.

Aid crossings open

UN humanitarians also reported progress in aid delivery under the ceasefire, with the UN agency assisting Palestine refugees (UNRWA) expanding temporary learning spaces and partners resuming food parcel distributions in Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis.

“Over the weekend, we along with our partners continued to collect aid from the Kerem Shalom/Karem Abu Salem and Kissufim crossings. This included post-partum and hygiene kits, medical supplies, fuel, water and food,” Mr. Dujarric said.

He added that on Sunday, for the first time, Israeli authorities allowed the UN to deploy monitors at the Kissufim crossing.

“This is of course a welcome development, as it provides us with much-needed visibility into that segment of the pipeline,” Mr. Dujarric added according to UN News.

News

UN Condemns Israeli Onslaught on Gaza City

CrossFireArabia
September 16, 2025

The United Nations has condemned the deadly Israeli military offensive in Gaza City that occurred this past weekend, Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said on Monday.

The situation “is having an appalling impact on civilians enduring suffering and starvation,” he told journalists in New York.

“The United Nations condemns the deadly escalation of the Israeli military offensive which took place over the weekend across Gaza City, with scores of people reportedly killed or injured,” he said.

“We reiterate our call for the protection of civilians and humanitarian personnel and full respect for international law.”

70,000 more uprooted

In a post on X on Sunday, the head of the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, said that 10 of its buildings in Gaza City had been hit in the past four days alone, including seven schools and two clinics which were being used as shelters.

Almost 70,000 displaced people have headed south in the past few days, while UN partners counted 150,000 movements from north to south this past month.

Partners further reported that one third of malnutrition treatment facilities in Gaza City have shut down due to forced displacement orders, while the Ministry of Health today reported 425 deaths overall due to malnutrition and starvation in Gaza, about a third of which were children.

A call for ‘unimpeded humanitarian access’

Over the past few days, UN partners have managed to distribute 40,000 additional meals each day. As of Saturday, 558,000 daily meals were prepared and distributed by 20 UN partners to 116 kitchens.

“However, health services continue to be heavily constrained, since clinics have suspended their services due to insecurity and displacement orders,” warned Mr. Dujarric, adding that in Deir Al-Balah, only a few ambulances remain in order and are able to serve the thousands of people in need.

Additionally, 77 per cent of the road networks in Gaza have been damaged and according to UN aid coordination office OCHA, humanitarian aid continues to be obstructed.

On Sunday, only four of the 17 missions that the UN coordinated with the Israeli authorities were facilitated. Seven missions were denied, one of which was meant to deliver water tanks to the north, while another four were impeded in the field, and two were cancelled by the organisers.

Nevertheless, three humanitarian missions were accomplished, including the collection of fuel and food cargo from the Kerem Shalom/Karem Abu Salem crossing.

“Our humanitarian colleagues continue to call for unimpeded humanitarian access,” stressed Mr. Dujarric. “Aid should flow at scale through multiple crossings into and within Gaza, including the north,” accoeding to UN News.

News

Israel Destroys 10 UNRWA Buildings in 4 Days

CrossFireArabia
September 15, 2025

Israeli strikes destroyed 10 of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees’ (UNRWA) buildings in Gaza City over the past four days, including seven schools and two clinics serving as shelters for thousands of displaced Palestinians, the agency’s commissioner-general said Sunday.

“No place is safe in Gaza. No one is safe. Airstrikes in Gaza City and the north are intensifying. More and more people are forced to leave, disoriented and uncertain, heading into the unknown,” Philippe Lazzarini wrote on the US social media company X’s platform according to Anadolu.

UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini: “No place is safe in Gaza. No one is safe.”
He said Israeli airstrikes are intensifying as families flee “into the unknown.”
In four days, 10 UNRWA buildings — including schools and clinics sheltering thousands — were targeted. pic.twitter.com/zkTPThKe86
— Chris Hutchinson (@ChrisHu34451470) September 15, 2025

Lazzarini noted that UNRWA was forced to suspend health care at the Al-Shati refugee camp.

“We were forced to stop health care in Beach (Al-Shati) Camp, the only health care available north of Wadi Gaza. Our vital water and sanitation services are now only at half capacity,” he said.

“Our teams – 11,000 in total – continue to provide critical services in other parts of northern Gaza and the rest of the Gaza Strip,” he added, praising their determination to serve communities under “inhumane circumstances.”

Lazzarini concluded by saying: “How much longer until action is taken to reach a ceasefire?”

The Israeli army has been targeting high-rise buildings across Gaza City as part of its ongoing offensive to occupy Gaza City, ordering residents to move southward to a “safe humanitarian zone” in Al-Mawasi, Khan Younis, which has come under Israeli fire more than 100 times, killing hundreds of civilians.

According to Gaza’s Government Media Office, the Israeli army has destroyed 1,600 towers and residential buildings in Gaza City since Aug. 11, in addition to 13,000 tents, displacing more than 100,000 Palestinians.

The vast majority of Gaza City’s residents are now crowded into its western neighborhoods, which have witnessed concentrated and intense Israeli bombing since Friday.

Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza has killed nearly 65,000 Palestinians since October 2023 and devastated the enclave, which faces famine.

Israel is facing a genocide case at the International Court of Justice over its war on the territory.

News

Gaza’s Lost Generation

CrossFireArabia
August 30, 2025

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) sounded the alarm on Saturday over the fate of education in Gaza, warning that more than 660,000 children have been deprived of schooling for a third consecutive year as Israel’s devastating war nears the two-year mark.

“The war in Gaza is a war on children and it must stop. Children must be protected at all times,” UNRWA said in a statement, cautioning that the enclave’s youth are at risk of becoming a “lost generation.”

While schools in the occupied West Bank are set to reopen on Sept. 1, Gaza’s classrooms remain shuttered.

The Palestinian Education Ministry said around 700,000 students in the enclave have seen their schooling suspended under bombardment, with more than 70,000 unable to take high school exams for two consecutive years according to Anadolu.

According to ministry data, Israeli attacks since October 2023 have killed at least 17,000 school students and more than 1,200 university students in Gaza, while injuring tens of thousands more.

In the occupied West Bank, dozens of students have also been killed, wounded or detained by Israeli forces during the same period.

The toll has extended to teachers and academic staff. Nearly 1,000 education workers have been killed in Gaza, and thousands more injured or detained across the Palestinian territories.

Israel has killed over 63,400 Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, which is facing famine.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.