The UN said that amidst all these challenges, “the humanitarian scale-up remains restricted,” due to Israel’s restrictions on the entry of aid.
More than 230,000 women and girls in the Gaza Strip, including nearly 15,000 pregnant women, have limited access to reproductive health services because of escalating Israeli military attacks, despite a ceasefire deal, the UN said on Thursday.
Citing the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said that damage to health facilities, safe spaces and clinics, combined with forced displacement and movement restrictions in addition to flooding, “has sharply limited access to psychosocial support and medical care.”
Amidst all these challenges, “the humanitarian scale-up remains restricted,” Dujarric stressed, as Israel continues to limit the entry of life-saving relief aid into the Strip.
“I was very afraid, especially during the famine, about how the foetus would be nourished.”
Once a joyous occasion marked by celebrations, pregnancy in Gaza has become a long and difficult journey through extremely harsh conditions, with little access to medical healthcare. pic.twitter.com/9UZjYcFQxh— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) January 21, 2026
UN humanitarian partners, he said, have reached more than 13,000 households since Sunday, adding that they distributed “hundreds of tents” along with mattresses, blankets, warm clothes, cooking utensils and solar lights.
Capacity and funding constraints mean support currently reaches only about 40% of Gaza’s 970 displacement sites, the spokesperson noted.
The UNFPA, he said, also reported that “the ongoing operations by Israeli forces along with settler violence and movement restrictions continue to disrupt people’s access to schools, workplaces, markets as well as healthcare.”
1.3 Million Displaced
As Gaza remains in the grip of severe Winter weather, Dujarric earlier confirmed the death of another child due to hypothermia, bringing to nine the total number of reported deaths linked to cold weather this season.
Israel Drops Leaflets in Gaza Ordering Families to Evacuate – First Since Ceasefire
“Once again, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) calls for urgent solutions, including allowing the entry of batteries, solar panels and other energy sources, that are needed to set up communal heating spaces,” he stressed.
The majority of the population in Gaza “continue to be uprooted”, Dujarric said, with some 1.3 million people estimated to be spread over 970 sites across Gaza — the majority of them in the cities of Deir al Balah and Khan Yunis.
70% of Water Production Disrupted
In addition, UN partners working on water, sanitation, and hygiene warned that approximately 70 percent of Gaza City’s total water production is currently disrupted, due to challenges related to repairing the Mekorot water supply line.
The line comes from Israel into Gaza and is located east of the so-called Yellow Line where Israeli forces remain deployed, Dujarric stated.
The UN on Wednesday said 70% of Gaza City’s water production is disrupted due to Israeli impediments linked to repairs of a key supply line, as Israel blocks the entry of a required so-called “dual-use” item.
“Our partners working on water, sanitation, and hygiene warned that… pic.twitter.com/FP0DBJ7anO
— Middle East Monitor (@MiddleEastMnt) January 22, 2026
“An assessment of the pipeline identified the need for a section of steel pipe that is not available in Gaza and is restricted from entry into Gaza as a ‘dual-use’ item,” he said, adding that a request that was made to repair the Safa well, another important water source for Gaza City, “was denied by the Israeli authorities” on Sunday.
UN partners are looking at alternative water sources and scaling up water trucking to ensure continued access to safe water.
Rising Death Toll
Starting on October 7, 2023, the Israeli military, with American support, launched a genocidal war against the people of Gaza. This campaign has so far resulted in the deaths of over 71,500 Palestinians, with more than 171,000 wounded. The vast majority of the population has been displaced, and the destruction of infrastructure is unprecedented since World War II. Thousands of people are still missing.
Despite a US-brokered ceasefire that took effect in October last year, Israel has killed over 470 Palestinians and injured more than 1,300, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Israeli Shelling Pounds Multiple Areas of Gaza as Infants Die from Cold
In addition to the military assault, the Israeli blockade has caused a man-made famine, leading to the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians—mostly children—with hundreds of thousands more at risk.
Despite widespread international condemnation, little has been done to hold Israel accountable. The nation is currently under investigation for genocide by the International Court of Justice, while accused war criminals, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, are officially wanted by the International Criminal Court.
(PC, Anadolu)
