Recognizing serious differences between Israel and the Palestinian Authority as they transition to new governments, a United Nations political official today called on both sides to keep the plight of residents of Gaza and the West Bank from deteriorating, as he briefed the Security Council on developments in the Middle East. “Despite the gulf between the parties, they and the international community share a common interest and duty to prevent a security or humanitarian crisis in the occupied Palestinian territory,” said Tuliameni Kalomoh, Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs. Read more about Middle East parties must prevent crises in Palestinian territories: UN official 

The refusal of the Hamas-led Palestinian Government to commit to non-violence, recognition of Israel and other principles will inevitably have an effect on direct assistance to it, the Middle East diplomatic Quartet made up of the United Nations, United States, European Union and Russia said today. “The Quartet welcomed President Abbas’ call for the new Palestinian Government to commit to a platform of peace and, having carefully assessed the program of the new government approved on March 28, noted with grave concern that the new Government has not committed to the principles” spelled out by the Quartet in a pronouncement made soon after the January elections, the group said in a formal statement. Read more about Intransigence of Hamas Government will affect aid: Quartet 

Karni and Kerem Shalom crossings have been open for nearly one week (21 - 27 March), although not at full capacity, allowing much needed basic food supplies to enter the Gaza Strip. Karni closed on 28 March because of heightened Israeli security concerns over the Knesset elections. Over the course of the last week, over 1,650 truckloads of food and commercial supplies entered the Gaza Strip through Karni crossing from Israel. Exported goods from the Gaza Strip were permitted on 26 March for the first time since 12 March. On 28 March, two Israeli Bedouins were killed in the nearby village of Nahal Oz when they reportedly handled an unexploded qassam rocket previously fired by Palestinian militants. Read more about Gaza Strip Situation Report 

Perspectives within the international donor community on how to approach wall mitigation and address the implications of the ICJ Opinion are far from consistent. Some donors are strongly in favour of wall mitigation on humanitarian grounds, while others express serious concern regarding undertaking any form of wall mitigation initiative on political or legal grounds. Many donors, meanwhile, have not formulated a clear position. A new paper outlines recommendations that deal with how to approach wall mitigation in an effective and consistent manner and which is legally consistent with the ICJ Opinion; and the need for donors to ensure compliance by Israel with international humanitarian law. Read more about Wall mitigation: Implications for donors and implementing agencies operating in areas affected by the Separation Barrier 

Palestinian refugees fleeing Iraq, who were refused entry into Jordan last week, are now receiving assistance from UN refugee agency, UNHCR, and the Iraqi Red Crescent Society. On Sunday, Ehab Taym, one of 88 Palestinian refugees who recently fled Baghdad, speaking from the Iraqi side of the border, said that the IRCS and UNHCR-Amman had sent blankets, tents, food and water. After having been moved from the “No Man’s Land” border area to the Iraqi side of the frontier, Taym said they were now housed in 20 tents provided by the aid agencies. They now await their fate. About a week’s worth of humanitarian assistance in the form of food, mattresses and blankets was provided to the refugees on Thursday. Read more about Palestinian refugees at Iraq-Jordan border receiving assistance 

With the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip deteriorating and food and other supplies running short due to Israeli closures, the United Nations World Food Programme warned today that it was crucial for this week’s 48-hour opening of the Karni crossing point to become permanent. WFP, which provides food aid to some 160,000 Palestinians in Gaza, was able to bring in 16 containers, containing 300 tons of food, mainly beans and vegetable oil, but this was a very limited amount, agency spokesperson Christiane Berthiaume told a news briefing in Geneva. A further problem was that the Israeli authorities were not allowing WFP to bring out the empty containers, and the agency needed to fill them again and bring them back in. Read more about UN food aid agency calls for permanent opening of crossing from Israel to Gaza 

The Director of UNRWA operations in Gaza, Mr. John Ging, stated that he was “struggling to be optimistic” upon his return from a visit to the “reopened” Karni commercial crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip on Tuesday morning. He explained that “the situation on the streets of Gaza was worse than it had been the day before, as the half hour opening of Karni on Monday afternoon had absolutely no impact on the developing humanitarian crisis.” Ging said on Tuesday that he hoped that the opening of Karni is the beginning of a return to normality. “For Gazans, this is the first rationing of bread in living memory,” he said. Read more about "Only a fully functioning Karni Crossing can avert looming humanitarian crisis" 

Following the closure of Karni, most bakeries in the Gaza Strip today are closed, because wheat flour stocks have finished. Bread is the staple food for 1.3 million Palestinians in Gaza. There are long lines of people outside the few bakeries that still have limited stocks of bread and the bakeries are rationing bread to those waiting. Gaza requires 450MT of wheat each day to maintain bread supplies.1 The usual 30-60 day wheat stock kept in Gaza is exhausted. Other basic food commodities are in extremely short supply including dairy products and fruit. Rice and sugar are selling at more than twice their normal price and are also very difficult to find in stores. Read more about The Humanitarian Impact of the Karni Crossing Closure: Bread running out in Gaza