Israeli fire, lack of aid persists across Gaza, United Nations says

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) has found that persistent Israeli shelling across Gaza, as well as bureaucratic delays, is hindering the delivery of what little aid is arriving into the enclave, despite the terms of the 10 October ceasefire deal.

"Efforts to ramp up aid are still being held back by red tape, ongoing bans on key humanitarian partners, too few crossings and routes, and insecurity that persists despite the ceasefire," Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, told reporters on Monday. 

"Our teams still have to coordinate every movement in advance with Israeli authorities," he added. "Yesterday, we made eight coordination attempts. Only two were fully facilitated, and four were impeded on the ground, including one that was delayed for 10 hours before the team finally received a green light to move". 

The UN did, however, manage to kickstart its "Catch Up campaign" for routine immunisation in Gaza, Haq said, with a target of vaccinating 44,000 children overall.