“You can hear bombs and bullets from the north, middle and south… Gaza is truly hell on earth right now, very hot… Garbage is piled up everywhere, people live under plastic covers where the temperature soars ,” said Ms. Wateridge, a Senior Communications Officer for the United Nations agency for Palestine refugees. UNRWAhours after returning to the devastated land since Hamas-led terror attacks and hostage-taking last October sparked the war.
After arriving on Thursday through the Kerem Shalom crossing in the southernmost part of Gaza, Ms Wateridge said what she saw of nearby Rafah was “destroyed”. The city had been her base during her first tour in May, when Israeli forces seized the key border crossing, further hampering aid deliveries into Gaza.
The scenes of devastation were repeated on the aid worker’s journey north to central Gaza, where she now lives.
Empty house shells serve as shelter
“The trip through Khan Younis was terrifying – I hadn’t been there since before the Rafah attack on May 6 and it was like a ghost town because everything was destroyed.”
“Now, there are many families living inside these destroyed skeletal buildings. People have spread blankets or plastic sheets over places where walls were blown away. So the difference between the invasion of Rafah and the ongoing military action is clearly visible.”
Lawlessness and looting
UNRWA staff have confirmed reports of a breakdown in law and order after nearly nine months of intense Israeli bombing, which has disrupted normal life in Gaza and forced people to stop aid trucks in search of food as they enter Gaza through Kerem Shalom.
“The road was full of looters when we arrived. We arrived at the same time as some relief vehicles, so there were hundreds of armed men waiting for them to arrive. The trucks we passed on the road were badly damaged – the windscreens were completely smashed, all had metal bars reinforced in the driver’s area. It felt completely lawless.”
‘Every single building’ of the UN was damaged or destroyed
Going deeper into Gaza, Ms Wateridge described the damage caused to UN facilities on the road from Kerem Shalom to Khan Younis, Deir al Balah and beyond, with several large holes from shelling and one others are gutted, exposed to the elements.
“Every UNWRA facility – schools, warehouses, food distribution, etc. – was significantly damaged or even destroyed. Bullet holes, blown-out walls, floors collapsing like pancakes on top of each other – you wouldn’t know that these are United Nations facilities protected by international law.”
According to the United Nations aid coordination office, (OCHA), since the beginning of 2024, only 14% of the fuel (diesel and benzene) that used to enter Gaza monthly before October 2023, has been allowed into the area (two million liters compared to 14 million liters).
“We don’t have fuel so we can’t go anywhere – it’s all humanitarian,” Ms Wateridge said, confirming that aid operations continue to be hampered by difficulty getting fuel from Kerem Shalom . “For UNRWA, there is a plan to distribute what we have – food and mattresses – but it is very limited. It’s another testament to how bad the humanitarian response is that we don’t even have enough fuel to get going.”
In addition to these challenges, UNRWA staff also face their own problems, Ms. Wateridge explained. “I look forward to meeting them; They were okay, but they were very hurt because they had to leave Rafah. Now they have nothing left.”
