DaysofPal- Palestinian officials stated that the Israeli occupation is deliberately obstructing the recovery of Gaza’s devastated health system, saying Tel Aviv continues to violate the terms of the ceasefire agreement signed 23 days ago in Sharm El-Sheikh under Egyptian, Qatari, and Turkish mediation, with U.S. oversight.
In a joint appeal on Monday, officials urged the mediators and the international community to intensify pressure on the Israeli occupation to comply with the agreement and allow the unrestricted entry of aid convoys through all crossings.
They warned that more than 2.3 million people in Gaza are facing “catastrophic humanitarian conditions” as the enclave’s health and infrastructure sectors remain on the brink of total collapse.
According to the humanitarian annex of the January 2025 ceasefire deal, 600 aid trucks were to enter Gaza daily carrying food, medical supplies, fuel, and shelter materials through UN and international agencies. However, government figures show that between October 10 and 31, only 3,203 trucks entered the Strip , an average of 145 per day, representing just 24% of the agreed quota.
Amjad Al-Shawa, Director of the Palestinian NGOs Network, said that three weeks after the ceasefire, Gaza’s humanitarian and health crisis “remains catastrophic.”
Speaking outside Al-Awda Health Hospital in Nuseirat, he accused the Israeli occupation of maintaining control over more than half of Gaza’s territory, preventing the return of hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians.
“Only 10% of Gaza’s medical needs are being met,” Al-Shawa said, adding that Israeli occupation continues to block humanitarian convoys and prevent international technical teams from entering to clear over 20,000 unexploded bombs scattered across neighborhoods and roads.
He also warned of rising cases of malnutrition among children and pregnant women, calling the Israeli restrictions on food imports “a deliberate policy of collective punishment.”
Al-Shawa condemned the Israeli defiance of a recent International Court of Justice (ICJ) advisory opinion, issued in October, which reaffirmed that UNRWA had not violated neutrality or discriminated in aid distribution.
The ICJ ruling stressed that the Israeli occupation must facilitate humanitarian aid to Gaza and refrain from using starvation as a weapon of war.
Despite this, Al-Shawa said, the Israeli occupation continues to block some 6,000 UNRWA trucks and thousands more from other international NGOs.
Dr. Raafat Al-Majdalawi, Director-General of the Al-Awda Health and Community Association, said Israeli attacks have continued even after the ceasefire, killing 222 Palestinians and wounding 540 over the past three weeks.
He called for the immediate reopening of all crossings, including Rafah, which the Israeli occupation continues to keep closed despite the agreement’s provision for European monitoring. The closure, he said, is preventing 16,000 critically ill patients from traveling abroad for life-saving treatment.
Al-Majdalawi warned that the blockade has also halted the entry of essential medicines and medical supplies needed by more than 300,000 chronically ill patients.
Reopening the crossings, he said, would also allow the repair of 90% of the water and sewage networks destroyed during the genocidal war, improving public health for more than 1.2 million people.
He stressed the urgent need for cooking gas and fuel to prevent residents from burning waste for cooking, which poses serious health risks, and said that rehabilitating the 600 damaged educational institutions in Gaza is crucial to restoring stability and hope for more than one million students.
Both officials urged the international community to pressure the Israeli occupation to end all forms of genocidal warfare and to allow the entry of international medical teams, field hospitals, and heavy machinery to retrieve bodies still trapped beneath the rubble.
“Reopening the crossings means saving lives,” Al-Majdalawi said, adding that “It means giving hospitals a chance to function, children a chance to heal, and people a chance to live with dignity.”
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