Humanitarians must be able to deliver aid in Gaza, UN agencies insist

This article is published in association with United Nations.

UN agencies on Friday continue to stress they must be allowed to deliver aid in the Gaza Strip as famine looms and a telecommunications blackout threatens lifesaving operations. 

The humanitarian network is currently at a standstill because the internet shut down earlier this week after the last fibre cable route serving central and southern areas was cut during heavy fighting.

“As the outage continues, partners are unable to communicate or coordinate response activities, and people in need remain isolated and without the information they need to access life-saving support and emergency services,” UN aid coordination office OCHA said in an update.

Connectivity a life or death issue

Restoring connectivity is urgent. OCHA said the Israeli military recently posted a warning on social media where areas marked in red on a map are considered dangerous combat zones, calling on people to stay away from them.

Although these areas apparently cover most of the Gaza Strip’s territory, most people have no way to access the announcement.

Meanwhile, partners working on telecommunications continue efforts to coordinate urgent repairs of the fibre optic cable routes in Gaza, including those that were previously damaged. 

However, since April, Israeli authorities have denied more than 20 requests to carry out this work.  

“It is critical that repair of the lines is enabled immediately,” OCHA said.

Humanitarian missions denied

The agency further reported that the Israeli authorities continue to deny many humanitarian movements aimed at providing support to Gaza’s population, which numbers over two million.

On Thursday, they rejected eight out of 18 UN attempts to coordinate such movements, including efforts to retrieve wheat flour and fuel supplies. 

Four other missions were unable to be accomplished, either because of impediments or because they had to be cancelled for security or logistical reasons. 

The remaining six missions, which included the movement of staff, were successful.

‘Recipe for chaos’

Conditions continue to deteriorate in Gaza after 20 months of war followed by a total blockade of aid and commercial goods which began on 2 March.

People are crammed in shelters, or living in tents, and lack basic essentials.  For example, the accumulation of solid waste is severely impacting health and environmental conditions, the UN Palestine refugee agency UNRWA said on Friday.

Israel temporarily lifted the ban in mid-May, and the UN was able to bring in small amounts of key aid items such as flour and medicines – though far from enough to prevent starvation from impacting the population.

Since late May, the UN and partners have been sidelined as a new aid distribution model began operations.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which is backed by Israel and the United States, uses private military contractors, according to media reports.  More than 200 people have been killed, and thousands more injured by gunfire near its hubs.

The mechanism is “a recipe for chaos,” UNRWA tweeted on Friday, echoing the words of its chief Philippe Lazzarini.

“It is weaponising aid and resulting in fear, discrimination, and growing desperation,” the agency said.

“It is time to lift the siege and let the UN, including UNRWA, do the work. Aid must be delivered safely and at scale.”

‘Hunger must never be met by bullets’

The UN Humanitarian Affairs Coordinator Tom Fletcher underscored the need to act now in a statement issued late on Thursday.

“Hunger must never be met with bullets,” he said. “Humanitarians must be allowed to do their work. Lifesaving aid must reach people in need, in line with humanitarian principles.” 

Mr. Fletcher said attacks against civilians in Gaza “are unacceptable”, which includes the killing and injury of hungry people seeking food and those delivering aid.

He said UN humanitarian convoys have been intercepted by armed Palestinian gangs, endangering staff and drivers.

“Civilians in desperate need of the food we’re able to bring in, have not been spared; some have been shot by Israeli forces, and others crushed by trucks or stabbed while trying to retrieve food,” he added.

© UNOCHA/Olga Cherevko

UN Relief Chief Tom Fletcher talks to a child at an UNRWA shelter during a visit to Gaza in February.

Let humanitarians work

He also mentioned incidents “concentrated around militarized distribution centres, where starving people tell us that Israeli forces opened fire on them.” 

“Hospitals report that they have received 245 fatalities and over 2,150 injuries from these areas over the past two weeks,” he said.

Furthermore, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said on Thursday that Palestinians involved in their distribution were killed, injured, and captured by Hamas.

“Without immediate and massively scaled-up access to the basic means of survival, we risk a descent into famine, further chaos, and the loss of more lives,” the UN relief chief warned.

“We stand ready, as we have repeatedly emphasized, to deliver life-saving aid at scale,” he said.  “Let us do our work.”