DUBAI, October 16. /TASS/. The Israeli government denied access to nearly half of the 285 humanitarian missions seeking to help people in the Gaza Strip in October, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA) in the occupied territories of Palestine reported.

According to it, a total of 285 humanitarian missions were scheduled in Gaza from October 1 to October 14. However, 141 of them (49%) were denied access and 85 of them (30%) were denied assistance. Moreover, 49 operations (17%) faced impediments, and ten (4%) were canceled due to logistical and security issues.

The OCHA report says that a total of 667 humanitarian missions to Gaza were planned in September, with 305 of them ultimately being provided with assistance and 138 being turned away.

The situation in the Middle East sharply escalated on October 7, 2023, when the Palestinian Hamas militants infiltrated the Israeli territory from Gaza, killing residents of Israeli border settlements and taking hostages. Israel responded by launching a military operation in the enclave in order to destroy the military and political structure of Hamas and liberate the hostages.