United Nations reports 70% of Gaza under restriction or evacuation mandate

The United Nations announced Friday that approximately 70% of Gaza’s territory now falls under Israeli military zones, evacuation orders, or areas where both designations apply.

During a press briefing, UN spokesperson Farhan Haq detailed multiple challenges hampering humanitarian operations in the region. He revealed that critical fibre optic infrastructure has remained damaged for over six weeks, with repair requests consistently denied by Israeli authorities.

“Our most recent application was rejected this morning, despite this cable being essential for maintaining data connectivity for humanitarian personnel,” Haq explained.

The spokesperson acknowledged limited improvement regarding fuel access, noting: “An OCHA-led UN team successfully collected some fuel supplies from Rafah today following Israeli facilitation of access—marking two consecutive days of retrieval after nearly three weeks of denials.”

Nevertheless, Haq cautioned that these fuel quantities fall far short of meeting Gaza’s substantial requirements, emphasising that “OCHA continues to stress the necessity for Israeli authorities to enable humanitarian movement throughout Gaza.”

Responding to questions about coordination with Israel’s US-supported aid delivery initiatives, Haq confirmed that OCHA and partner organisations “participated in discussions with United States representatives several days ago as part of ongoing efforts to ensure aid delivery to Gazans in accordance with humanitarian principles.”​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​