UN says no hospitals functioning in North Gaza as Israeli access denials stall Gaza aid efforts

The UN said Wednesday that all hospitals in North Gaza are now non-operational due to Israeli military operations, as aid deliveries remain obstructed by repeated access denials by Israel, Anadolu reports.

“Our colleagues on the ground tell us that the latest figures indicate that in the past three weeks, more than 100,000 people were forced to flee in the governorates of North Gaza and Gaza alone,” spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said at a news conference.

He said health partners warned that facilities are “heavily impacted by the ongoing hostilities,” with more suspending operations daily.

“On Monday, the remaining staff and patients in the Indonesian Hospital, in North Gaza, were evacuated. As a result, not a single hospital remains functional in North Gaza,” Dujarric added.

Saying that the UN continues efforts to deliver aid through the Kareem Shalom crossing, he said: “Today, we submitted over 130 pre-cleared truckloads for a second and final Israeli clearance, but only 50 of them, which were carrying flour, were approved.”

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“One attempt was denied access altogether and another one did manage to retrieve just over a dozen truckloads,” he said, adding that less than 400 trucks have been collected since the crossing reopened.

UN teams faced six access denials across Gaza on Monday, including attempts to deliver water and retrieve fuel.

Dujarric stressed that Israeli denials prevent the UN “from carrying out interventions as critical as trucking water to those who need it.”

Citing the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Dujarric warned that without immediate access to fuel already inside Gaza but in militarized or restricted areas, “more critical services will have to suspend operations soon.”

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