New York (UNA/WAFA) – The UN Human Rights Office in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) stated that the past 18 months, including the current “complete blockade,” have devastated the lives of 2.2 million Palestinians and almost completely destroyed the essential infrastructure on which civilians depend for their survival in the Gaza Strip.
Regarding the food situation, the World Food Programme (WFP) stated that it has delivered its last remaining food stocks to hot meal kitchens in the Gaza Strip. These kitchens are expected to run out of food in the coming days.
For weeks, hot meal kitchens were the only regular source of food assistance for people in Gaza. Although they reached only half the population and met just 25 percent of daily food needs, they provided a critical lifeline.
The World Food Programme warned that the situation inside the Gaza Strip has once again reached a breaking point. "Avenues of coping are running out, and the fragile gains achieved during the brief ceasefire have been eroded. Unless urgent action is taken to open the crossings for aid and trade, WFP may be forced to end its vital assistance."
In a statement on Friday, the Human Rights Office said that Israel's complete closure of Gaza, preventing life-saving aid from reaching civilians, including food and fuel, has now entered its eighth week.
Bakeries have stopped operating due to shortages of flour and cooking fuel, prices of basic foodstuffs are rising, and Israeli attacks at sea continue to devastate Gaza's fishing industry. With food aid halted, the remaining stocks in the Strip are rapidly dwindling, putting the Strip's population, especially vulnerable groups and children, at increased risk of starvation.
The Israeli occupation forces continue to target civilian objects essential to the survival of the civilian population, according to the UN Human Rights Office.
Between April 21 and 22, the Israeli occupation forces launched deliberate and coordinated attacks across three governorates in Gaza, destroying 36 heavy machinery, including excavators, water trucks, and sewage suction tanks.
These machines were used by Gaza municipalities in humanitarian relief operations, such as removing rubble, distributing water, and maintaining vital sewage systems.
According to the Human Rights Office, the destruction of these vehicles is likely to significantly hamper rescue operations, including the recovery of the wounded from under the rubble, the removal of debris to allow ambulances to move, the provision of safe drinking water, the collection of solid waste, and the operation of sewage networks—increasing the risk of disease outbreaks.
The UN office warned that "deliberate attacks on civilian objects are unlawful and constitute a war crime under international humanitarian law."
In a related development, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) stated that nearly 50% of the displaced and affected population in the Gaza Strip are women and girls.
The UN Human Rights Office estimates that “nearly 70% of those killed in Gaza between 7 October 2023 and 31 March 2025 were women and children.”
Meanwhile, settler violence and "operations by Israeli security forces" in the West Bank continue to kill or injure Palestinians, forcibly displacing them from their homes or shelters in many areas, preventing them from returning to their homes in refugee camps in Jenin and Tulkarm, and carrying out widespread destruction, accompanied by the construction of roads and checkpoints within the camps, and daily raids on Palestinian towns and villages, according to the Human Rights Office.
He continued: "As this process continues day after day, the prospects for Palestinians in the affected camps to be able to return to their homes are diminishing, threatening the permanent displacement of Palestinians from the main population centers in the West Bank, which amounts to forcible transfer," according to the Human Rights Office.
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