UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations warned on Tuesday, November 3, that public health risks are rising across the Gaza Strip because solid waste collection is being crippled by Israeli restrictions, UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told a news conference. Partners supporting waste collection in Gaza warn that only half of their vehicle fleet is operational, Dujarric said.

Source: UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, via Anadolu, Nov 3, 2026

“That's because of persistent Israeli restrictions on the entry of enough engine oil and spare parts required to keep the vehicles running. As a result, public health risks are increasing as only some of the trash can be collected,” Dujarric said. He called for a wider range of critical supplies to be allowed into Gaza “with less red tape and more crossings open for deliveries”, and said humanitarian funding is also critical “especially as people face their fourth winter in dire displacement conditions”.

Source: UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, via Anadolu, Nov 3, 2026

The warning matches the UN Development Programme's published solid-waste assessment for Gaza: about 900,000 tonnes of waste were generated between the start of the war in October 2023 and the end of November 2025, UNDP-supported partners collected about 480,000 tonnes of it, benefiting around 1.4 million people, and both of Gaza's main landfills — Johr El-Deek and Al-Fukhari (Sofa) — remained inaccessible, with temporary dumping sites saturating near populated areas. The same assessment said entry of waste-collection trucks and spare parts remained suspended, and UNDP appealed for an additional US$41 million — yaani about 4.1 crore US dollars — to scale up waste management.

Source: UNDP Solid Waste Management Situation Report, Dec 2025

A ceasefire that has not restored basic services

Anadolu's report noted that a ceasefire has been in effect in Gaza since October 10, 2025, while also reporting continued Israeli shelling, shooting and demolitions since then — the gap the UN warning sits inside: the fighting's intensity may have changed, but the municipal systems that keep a displaced population healthy — waste trucks, fuel, spare parts, landfill access — have not been restored. Uncollected waste piling up near shelters and populated areas is precisely the mechanism the UN says is driving the rising public-health risk, as winter approaches.

Source: Anadolu, Nov 3, 2026; UNDP, Dec 2025

What happens next

Watch the UN's daily briefings for any change in what is allowed through Gaza's crossings — engine oil, spare parts and trucks are small, specific items whose entry or refusal will show quickly in the fleet numbers Dujarric cited. Watch also for humanitarian funding decisions ahead of winter, and for any Israeli statement answering the UN's call for more crossings and less red tape. For Gaza's displaced families, the test is simple and visible: whether the trucks start moving again before the fourth winter sets in.

Source: Awaaz Punjab analysis, Nov 4, 2026