NGOs demand “unhindered” humanitarian access to Gaza: “Aid waits a few kilometers away while people die”

They ask that humanitarian personnel “never be a military objective”, after the death of nearly 200 workers in 6 months

MADRID, 5 (EUROPA PRESS)

Several NGOs have published a manifesto in which they demand an “immediate and permanent” ceasefire and “immediate, sufficient, safe, sustained and unhindered” humanitarian access six months after the start of the Israeli offensive in Gaza. . The organizations have regretted that they have sent “tons of aid” that “waits a few kilometers from Gaza while people die.”

With the motto ‘SOS Gaza’, the text – presented this Friday in the Madrid square ‘El Jardín de Palestine’ – denounces the transfer of “tons of aid that could now be saving more lives in Gaza”, according to NGOs , who accuse the Government of Israel of imposing “important and persistent restrictions” on the entry of this material and humanitarian personnel through land crossings.

In this sense, as they highlighted at a press conference, these steps are “the only truly effective ones for a massive influx of aid that can alleviate the suffering of the population.” This initiative has been promoted by Alliance for Solidarity-ActionAid, ACPP Amnesty International, Educo, Farmamundi, IECAH, The Coordinator of Organizations for Development, Doctors of the World, Doctors without Borders, medicusmundi, Movement for Peace -MPDL-, Mundubat , Oxfam Intermón, Save the Children and World Vision.

The manifesto has been read by the humanitarian action member of the Coordinator of Organizations for Development Spain (ONGD-Spain), Sandra Ferrer Aranda, who has been surrounded by boxes and cubes that, according to the organizers, symbolize the humanitarian assistance that Israel blocks: “blankets, medicine, fuel, medical equipment, food, water or tents.”

For all these reasons, when six months of bombings have passed in Gaza, NGOs have raised “a cry of alarm” about an “absolutely extreme” situation, where “more than two million Palestinians desperately need humanitarian assistance in the Gaza Strip.” Gaza” and die from lack of “health care, drinking water or even lack of food. According to the official figures set out in the manifesto, more than 32,000 people have been murdered, of which, as Ferrer has highlighted, around 13,000 are minors.

In this context, NGOs have recalled that the Government of Israel must comply with International Humanitarian Law to guarantee the basic needs of the population are met and allow humanitarian organizations to provide “vital aid” throughout Gaza, “safely and without impediments and on a scale that allows humanitarian needs to be met. As they have recalled, both the International Criminal Court and the United Nations “have been firm in this regard.”

In the opinion of the NGO signatories of the text, the entry of supplies allowed to date into Gaza is “insignificant” compared to the “immense need of a place that has been blocked for more than 15 years” and that “crucially depended on foreign aid even before this war.”

“The needs only increase,” they denounced, reminding the displaced Palestinian population that “is pushed towards the Egyptian border in Rafah.” “Malnutrition is a reality, contagious diseases are spreading, clean water is scarce and inclement weather worsens the living conditions of the population,” the manifesto adds.

In this regard, the FAO has warned of an “imminent famine” in northern Gaza and, as Ferrer explained, there is a “probability of its extension” to the rest of the Gaza Strip, with “all the humanitarian consequences” that this implies. for the population, “particularly for young children.

“SAFE ACCESS” FOR HUMANITARIAN WORKERS

On the other hand, after the recent attack on the NGO of chef José Andrés, which left seven World Central Kitchen workers dead, the humanitarian action member of ONGD-Spain has regretted that, since the beginning of the conflict, “more of 200 humanitarian workers, most of them Palestinians.

That is why the manifesto recognizes the work of the workers of United Nations Agencies and NGOs who, “despite the difficulties and risking their own lives, continue to provide support and assistance to the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip.”

As the document denounces, “neither the civilian population nor humanitarian personnel should ever be military objectives”, as further established by International Humanitarian Law. “It is very important that the Israeli government ensures safe access for these workers and aid,” Ferrer insisted.

On the other hand, following the announcement by Israel’s war cabinet to approve the opening of the port of Ashdod and the Erez Pass, in the north of the Gaza Strip, as a measure aimed at increasing the flow of humanitarian aid, NGOs have assured that this is a “completely insufficient” measure.

In Ferrer’s words, it is “positive news, but it is insufficient news” because what they need is “a ceasefire” for that aid to enter “massively.” “Massive and safe aid is needed, since not only must entry be guaranteed through different land crossings – in that sense it is positive that Erez is opened – but, once inside, we must guarantee that it can be distributed. “, he added.