In a statement released here, the high representative reiterated the agency’s alarm over the constant displacement of civilians, the lack of access and the obstacles to the transfer of essential supplies.

“Schools, hospitals and civilian infrastructure have been reduced to rubble,” he insisted.

On Monday, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs confirmed that two UN-led missions entered successfully the besieged areas in northern Gaza on December 20. The convoys arrived at Beit Hanoun and Kamal Adwan Hospital with food, water, fuel and medicines, among other supplies.

“These were the only two approved missions out of eight requested by the UN to access northern Gaza between December 18 and 22,” Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary General António Guterres, told reporters.

In early December, UN agencies estimated that between 65,000 and 75,000 civilians remained isolated in the north of the coastal enclave in increasingly difficult survival conditions.

More than 44,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the conflict, more than 14 months ago, while more than 105,000 have been injured, according to official figures.

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