HAMILTON, Canada 

The UN said Tuesday that nearly 1 million people in the Gaza Strip have received food assistance since October, as humanitarian operations expand under a 60-day response plan amid Israeli attacks.

Citing the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said at a news conference that "the UN and our humanitarian partners continue scaling up our operations in line with the 60-day response plan."

"Since the resumption of our general food distribution in October, nearly 1 million people have received assistance through 46 distribution points run by our partners working on food security across the Strip, that is half of the total population," Haq reported.

He noted that "our partners providing protection support report that their services remain under severe strain due to displacement, damage and insecurity, with major gaps in the north. Despite this, they continue to respond wherever possible."

Emphasizing that "to fully deliver on the 60-day humanitarian plan, the UN and our humanitarian partners need a durable ceasefire, more functional crossings," Haq stressed the need for "lifting of bureaucratic hurdles, safe and viable routes inside Gaza, sustained funding and unimpeded access, including for NGOs."

On the situation in the occupied West Bank, Haq cited the UN's relief chief Tom Fletcher's appeal "for the protection of Palestinians amid reports of ongoing attacks by Israeli settlers across the West Bank."

Noting that "many of these attacks are related to Palestinians' attempts to harvest their olive crops," Haq said that Fletcher stressed that "the failure to prevent or punish such attacks is inconsistent with international law."

According to the official Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, 259 attacks on Palestinians were carried out by the Israeli army and illegal settlers during the olive harvest season from late September to November.

Israeli attacks have escalated across the occupied West Bank since October 2023, killing more than 1,062 Palestinians and injuring 10,300, according to Palestinian figures.

In a landmark opinion last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.