UN-Truth

AIDA (the Association of International Development Agencies), a membership body and coordination forum of international non-governmental and non-profit organizations (INGOs) that share a common interest in promoting appropriate development and humanitarian programs in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), has today issued a press statement calling for full access to the Gaza Strip. “In the aftermath of the Israeli military operation in Gaza, it is critical that full and unhindered humanitarian access to Gaza be granted immediately by all parties to the conflict”.

The statement said that “International agencies have faced unprecedented denial of access to Gaza since 5 November. On Friday morning a small group of international humanitarian workers were allowed to enter Gaza for the first time in almost three months. Despite this positive step, humanitarian access remains unreliable and needs to be granted every day without restriction. Before Friday, only a handful of medical emergency staff had managed to cross into Gaza … In the 23 days of conflict, Gaza has sustained severe and widespread destruction to its civilian infrastructure. According to the Palestinian Bureau of Statistics, an estimated 21,000 homes have been partially destroyed and 4,000 completely destroyed. In addition, there has been substantial damage to schools, hospitals, clinics, water and sewage facilities, electrical lines and other public facilities. These need to be repaired. As of 23 January, over 8,500 people remained in temporary shelters such as the UNRWA schools, and many more are lodged with family or friends. The United Nations says 100,000 people are now homeless. The total number of people displaced who require assistance is still unknown. A recent survey conducted by CARE shows that 86% of respondents have cash shortages and half say that food is their most urgent need. To cope families are reducing food consumption. At the same time, people do not have full access to very basic healthcare – such as antibiotics, medicine for fever, diabetes, heart disease and hypertension. Young children, many already malnourished before the conflict began, are extremely vulnerable to the lack of food, water and basic health services. All crossings into Gaza must be operational 24 hours a day in order to position the following items in Gaza: spare parts and fuel for the power plant, hospitals and water and sewage treatment facilities as well as tons of cement, sand and other construction materials to rebuild the destroyed schools, hospitals, clinics and homes. At the moment roughly 120-125 trucks get into Gaza each day through Kerem Shalom crossing … Gaza needs a broad-based humanitarian response beyond providing medical aid, emergency medical treatment and small-scale relief such as food and water. Humanitarian access is woefully inadequate and we call for immediate action on the part of all parties to ensure that immediate humanitarian assistance – people and goods – is allowed to enter Gaza freely and that it promptly reaches those in need. Without adequate materials and cash, recovery efforts will be greatly undermined, and the population of Gaza – already heavily reliant on international assistance as a result of the 19-month blockade – will become completely dependent on aid”.

Somewhat surprisingly, the AIDA statement said that “only the Karni crossing has the technology and capacity to help meeting the immense needs of the Gazan population”. This is puzzling, because Karni was previously said to have a small capacity … Israel has tried to impose the Karni crossing as the crossing of choice for most humanitarian materials, but the Palestinians (mainly the PA, I think) have resisted.

In the statement issued today, Charles Clayton, Chair of the Association of International Development Agencies, said that “It is unacceptable that staff of international aid agencies with expertise in emergency response are still not given full access into Gaza, and that the crossings are not fully operational for humanitarian and commercial flows of goods and people”.

On Friday, the Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) called on Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas to take immediate action to end Gaza’s humanitarian life, in the wake of three weeks of armed conflict that caused massive loss of life and destruction.

The Israeli military’s Operation Cast Iron began with air strikes and naval shelling on 27 December, and a ground operation began on 3 January. First Israel and then Hamas each stated that they would observe unilateral cease-fires that began last Sunday.

The ICRC statement said that “This latest conflict came at a time when the population of Gaza was already suffering worsening poverty, shortages of basic goods and a lack of such basic services as proper medical care and water because of the closures and restrictions that Israel was imposing, particularly since October 2007. Insufficient cooperation between the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah and the Hamas administration in Gaza had also hit the provision of essential services for the population of the Strip”.

The President of the ICRC, Jacob Kellenberger, said that “It would not be acceptable to go back to the situation prior to this latest conflict … Political preconditions must not be allowed to affect recovery efforts. Israel’s right to address its legitimate security concerns must be balanced against the Gazans’ right to lead a normal and dignified life.”

Kellenberger also said that “We once again call on all sides to take the political steps needed to resolve the humanitarian crisis in Gaza once and for all … Emergency aid is vital for Gaza short-term, but what is needed are the right conditions for economic development”.

The ICRC statement added that “According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, about 1,400 people were killed and more than 5,600 wounded during the conflict. Many of the seriously injured will be marked for life. Thousands of Gazans remain homeless, about 300,000 have no access to piped water and the sewerage network in parts of Gaza has been badly damaged. In addition, the population is facing the danger posed by explosive remnants of war, and this could also complicate the work of humanitarian organizations”.

The European Union is reportedly applying strong pressure on Israel to facilitate massive humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, and an EU delegation headed by commissioner Louis Michel of Belgium is supposed to enter Gaza on 25 – 26 January.

The Erez crossing that the EU delegation would have to pass through is now closed on Saturday (for the Jewish Shabbat), and will be open other days for only very limited hours, from 8 am to 3 pm daily, and just until 2 pm on Fridays …

Earlier in the week, CARE International issued a statement saying that at least 89% of Gaza’s 1.5 million residents have received no humanitarian aid since Israel began its three-week war in December — and 56% of Gazans are hosting displaced people in their homes.

The Ma’an News Agency in Bethlehem reported that “CARE conducted a survey among Gaza residents that it says shows that more aid and humanitarian workers are needed in Gaza, and that Israel should ‘fully open’ Gaza’s borders to allow “humanitarian supplies, building materials, and commercial goods into the region.” Ma’an reported that Martha Myers, CARE International’s Country Director in the West Bank and Gaza, said that “In order to meet the overwhelming needs of the population, we must have full access for humanitarian workers and material into and out of the Gaza Strip. A handful of medical staff allowed in over the past three weeks is not enough to rebuild Gaza”. This statement is reported
here .

Filed under: Boundaries & Borders, Egypt, Gaza, Humanitarian Aid, International Humanitarian Law, Israel, Palestine & Palestinians