Gaza remains in great need of humanitarian assistance despite some progress in delivering more aid since a ceasefire began last month, the UN has said.
Israeli restrictions on the entry of aid during two years of war on the Palestinian territory, including months of total blockade, have created widespread hunger. Gaza was supposed to receive 600 lorries of aid daily under the terms of the ceasefire between Israel and the militant group Hamas that began on October 10, but deliveries have fallen far short of this.
The UN and its partners have managed to ship 37,000 tonnes of aid, mostly food, into Gaza since the ceasefire, but much more is needed, UN spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters on Friday.
“Despite significant progress on the humanitarian scale-up, people's urgent needs are still immense, with impediments not being lifted quickly enough since the ceasefire,” Mr Haq said, quoting reports from UN's humanitarian service, OCHA.
Mr Haq lamented that entry into Gaza continues to be limited to only two crossings, with no direct access to northern Gaza from Israel or to southern Gaza from Egypt, while staff of non-government humanitarian agencies are being denied access.
Earlier this week, the UN said it had distributed food parcels to one million people in Gaza since the ceasefire, but said it was still in a race to save lives.
The UN's World Food Programme called for all crossing points into the Gaza Strip to be opened to flood the famine-hit Palestinian territory with aid, adding that no reason was given why the northern crossings with Israel remained closed.
According to US and Israeli officials who spoke to The Washington Post and the Times of Israel, the US-led Civil Military Co-ordination Centre (CMCC), a multinational body set up to monitor the ceasefire, has taken charge of overseeing the delivery of aid.
Israel has been playing a secondary role in the process, while the US has become the main decision-maker at the CMCC, including on the entry and distribution of humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip, an Israeli official told Times of Israel.
Israel faces accusations of genocide against Palestinians over its aid blockades, which led the UN to declare famine in Gaza city in August and the destruction of homes, medical facilities and infrastructure in attacks that have killed more than 68,000 people, mostly civilians.
On Friday, Turkey announced that it had issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and senior officials in his government on charges of genocide.
The Istanbul prosecutor's office said warrants were issued for a total of 37 suspects, without providing a full list.
They include Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and army chief Lt Gen Eyal Zamir.
Turkey has accused the officials of “genocide and crimes against humanity” that Israel has “perpetrated systematically” in Gaza.
The statement also refers to the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, built by Turkey in the Gaza Strip and bombed by Israel in March.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Israel “firmly rejects, with contempt” the charges, calling them “the latest publicity stunt by the tyrant [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan”.
