The head of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said attacks by Israeli forces and Palestinian groups were hampering efforts to save lives in the war-torn enclave.

United Nations agencies’ efforts to deliver humanitarian aid in Gaza are at a “breaking point”, a senior official has warned.

Aid efforts in Gaza face growing obstacles israeli army Aid workers continue to face attacks amid a breakdown in law and order in the war-torn enclave, the head of the United Nations humanitarian agency (OCHA) said in a statement late on Monday. He also pointed to the threat posed by Palestinian armed groups.

Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, explain: “The reality is that despite our determination to provide food, water and medicine to survivors, our efforts to save lives are reaching breaking point.”

The official noted that an Israeli airstrike seriously injured three people at a known food distribution point where World Food Program (WFP) partners are located.

On Sunday, Israeli soldiers also fired more than 16 rounds from south to north at a clearly marked U.N. convoy at the checkpoint, he added.

Palestinian armed groups also hampered operations. Fletcher said they hijacked six tanker trucks entering from the Karem Abu Salem crossing, known to Israelis as Kerem Shalom, leaving humanitarian agencies with almost no fuel for aid operations.

“There is no meaningful civil order. The Israeli military is unable or unwilling to ensure the security of our convoys. The Israeli authorities’ rhetoric denigrates our aid workers, even as the military attacks them. Community volunteers who accompany our convoys are targeted. Now people Thinking it’s dangerous to protect aid convoys but safe to rob them,” Fletcher said.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel’s genocide in Gaza has killed at least 45,854 Palestinians and injured 109,139. The attack led by Hamas that day killed at least 1,139 people in Israel and captured about 250 people.

Another baby froze to death on Monday due to hypothermia and Israeli restrictions on humanitarian aid, including tents, blankets, mattresses and other supplies for displaced Palestinians, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said. Deeply concerned.

“These deaths could be prevented if their families had access to the items they need to protect these children,” the organization said in a statement.

The United Nations agency estimates that some 1.6 million people in Gaza live in makeshift shelters that fail to protect them from the winter cold, with nearly 500,000 of them living in flood-prone areas. Gaza authorities say that of the 135,000 tents used as shelters in the Gaza Strip, about 110,000 are dilapidated and unusable.

Fletcher called on UN member states to ensure that all civilians and all humanitarian operations are protected.

“That doesn’t need to be said,” he insisted.