All UNSC humanitarian resolutions on Gaza remain only on paper — Vasily Nebenzya

The level of humanitarian response in the Gaza Strip gives rise to concern as all UN Security Council resolutions geared to improve the humanitarian situation in the enclave remain only on paper, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya said.

"The lack of a due level of humanitarian response causes concern. I don’t think that anything different could be expected in the lack of a ceasefire. As a result, all UN Security Council resolutions remain only on paper," he said at a Security Council meeting on the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip which was initiated by Russia, China, and Algeria.

"The UN special mechanism for the delivery of aid, which was set up under UNSC Resolution 2720, is yielding no visible results," he said. "Attempts to organize a Cyprus-floating pier have failed. The pier, which was designed for being used in river conditions was literally washed away into the sea. The Rafah crossing, via which considerable volumes of humanitarian cargoes used to be delivered, is now closed. Roads that were supposed to be used to deliver cargoes are destroyed."

The Israeli authorities, according to the Russian diplomat, continue hampering aid deliveries. "Financing is insufficient, while people who are trapped in the enclave can rely only on external assistance, because there is neither industrial production nor agriculture in the Gaza Strip," he stressed.