Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN agency giving aid to Palestinians, accused Israel on October 21 of denying aid to northern parts of the Gaza Strip and called for a cease-fire as a step "to putting an end to this endless nightmare." "The Israeli Authorities continue to deny humanitarian missions to reach the north with critical supplies including medicine and food for people under siege," he wrote in a post on X. Lazzarini called for aid organizations to be allowed access to the northern Gaza Strip, including the group he heads, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). Gaza has been ravaged by a war triggered by the Iran-backed Hamas's October 7, 2023 incursion into Israel, which saw the militant group that has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union kill some 1,200 people and take around 240 hostages. Israel has since launched a withering war against Hamas, vowing to cripple it.
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