‘A LOGISTICAL NIGHTMARE’: WHY IS IT
▶ A host of factors delay the entry of critical supplies to the enclave, writes Nada AlTaher and Mina Aldroubi
Long, cumbersome inspections and heightened bureaucracy restrict the flow of aid into Gaza, where more than a quarter of the 2.3 million population are starving and the healthcare system is close to collapse, international aid organisations said.
NGOs told The National that moving aid into Gaza and distributing it across the enclave is a logistical nightmare as the security situation there worsens by the hour.
More than 10 weeks into the Israeli bombardment of Gaza, more than 20,600 Palestinians have been killed and about two million have been displaced.
The UN and international humanitarian organisations said more aid is needed to prevent further deaths from deprivation and disease.
When the war began in October, Israel closed all entry and exit points from the besieged Gaza Strip.
“This complete blockade was in effect up until October 21, when lorries with humanitarian aid were allowed through the Rafah crossing between northern Sinai in Egypt and southern Gaza. This was the only entry point allowed by the Israeli authorities,” deputy spokesman for the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Jens Laerke, told The National.
The Rafah crossing – which has been controlled by Egypt since 2007, but requires Israel to approve imports to Gaza – is designed for the movement of people, not aid or commercial goods. Only a fraction of the aid required has been allowed to pass through the crossing.
NGOs said the process is slowed by exhaustive inspections from Israeli authorities.
“This physical constraint, in combination with complicated logistics, has made entry problematic. In addition, Israeli authorities require inspection of lorries in Nitzana, some 100km from the Rafah crossing, before entry into Gaza,” Mr Laerke said.
Amid growing international pressure, Israel opened the Kerem Shalom border crossing on December 17.
“The facility is equipped to process hundreds of lorries, and we hope that it will accelerate the entrance of aid,” Mr Laerke said. Israel’s co-ordinator of government activities in the territories, which must approve the entry of all aid along with the Egyptian General Intelligence Service, said the capacity for lorry inspections “will double” with the opening of Kerem Shalom.
On the first day it opened, the UN said 79 aid lorries passed through the Kerem Shalom crossing, well below the daily average of 500 that entered before October 7.
Stephen Ryan, rapid deployment co-ordinator for the International Committee of the Red Cross, said the move was not enough to meet the growing needs of Gazans.
“The disparity between urgently needed aid and what is currently entering Gaza is a chasm,” he said.
“There still aren’t enough relief items that are coming into Gaza despite the recent developments of a further border opening.”
Before the war, about 500 lorries were allowed to cross through Kerem Shalom into Gaza each day. Of these, 100 contained aid and the rest carried commercial goods for sale in supermarkets.
Tamara Alrifai, director of external relations and communications at the UN agency for Palestine refugees, said there was a “huge gap” between the amount of aid needed in Gaza and how much was being allowed in.
Fuel, medical aid and equipment to ensure Gazans have access to clean water is also critical.
Mr Ryan said some food remained on the market in Gaza, but prices have rapidly increased. “This means that those who have limited resources already, people who have fled their homes with little or nothing, who are now perhaps living under tents or plastic sheeting, are having to face very high prices for the limited food that’s available on the market,” he said. While some organisations distribute aid directly, the ICRC is working with groups in Gaza and is focused on supporting the health system, he added.
Aid groups have also faced increasing difficulties with distributing aid inside Gaza due to road closures, Israeli military operations and cuts to communications.
“Verification of lorries is long and cumbersome, which delays the passage of lorries,” Ms Alrifai said.
Mr Laerke said health infrastructure in the enclave had been “decimated”, with just six of 36 hospitals currently functioning. Gaza’s water crisis, which began before the war, has been exacerbated, forcing many Gazans to drink unclean water – if they can find anything to drink at all.
“According to humanitarian standards, the minimum amount of water needed in an emergency is 15 litres [for each person per day], which includes water for drinking, washing and cooking. For survival alone, the estimated minimum is three litres per day,” Mr Laerke said. Human Rights Watch has accused
Israel of deliberately blocking the delivery of water, food and fuel into Gaza to use starvation as a method of conflict, which is a war crime.
“One father told us he gets one can of beans or one box of cheese every three days for his family of five kids,” Ms Alrifai said.
“We have to get supplies to the scale of the needs. This is not the case yet,” she said.
The World Health Organisation said “worrying signals of epidemic diseases” have begun to emerge, with the threat “expected to worsen with the deteriorating situation and approaching winter conditions”.
“The entire population of the Gaza Strip now needs some form of humanitarian support: food, water, health care, protection, shelter, psycho-social support to mitigate war-trauma, and so on.
“Winter weather is only going to make those needs even more dire,” Mr Laerke said.
About 10 per cent of the food available in Gaza entered the enclave in the past 70 days, Ocha said on December 19.
There is so little food available that footage has emerged showing Gazans jumping on to aid lorries in an attempt to secure supplies for their families.
Any aid delivered to Gaza is also difficult to store, with NGO staff and warehouses under threat from Israeli
strikes. The UN said more of its workers had been killed in Gaza than any other single conflict since the organisation was founded in 1945.
“What is happening in Gaza should make all of us outraged. It should push all of us to rethink our values, our humanity,” said Juliette Touma, director of communications for the UNRWA.
“UNRWA has had 170 facilities in Gaza hit, and 136 colleagues killed since the war began.
“The level of despair is unimaginable.”
But moving aid into Gaza is a long process that involves stops at several checkpoints, inspections and, in some cases, rejection by Israeli authorities.
Aid from the Egyptian Red Crescent, UN agencies, NGOs and governments is flown to a military airport in Egypt’s coastal town of Al Arish, where it is stockpiled.
“From there, it is transported in lorries to Rafah and onwards for inspection under the auspices of the Israeli authorities in Nitzana, and then returns to Rafah to cross into Gaza,” Mr Laerke said.
Important decisions are then made by authorities when it arrives at the Rafah crossing.
“This is where you have your material either rejected or accepted,” Norwegian Refugee Council communications adviser Ahmed Bayram said.
The approved supplies are sent to Rafah. Rejected aid can include material for building shelters. An NGO worker said that tent poles, which Israeli authorities viewed as “dual purpose”, were blocked at the border.
Hammers and nails needed to set up sturdier structures to withstand Gaza’s harsh winter have also been rejected by Israeli inspectors.
Previously, all aid was sent to Nitzana – an area in Israel 50km south of Rafah – for assessment, before being driven to the Rafah crossing.
“Karam Abu Salem [Kerem Shalom] is much closer,” Mr Bayram said.
Once the aid is in the enclave, the process becomes more complicated and dangerous, with moves taken to try to avoid Israeli ground operations and strikes.
“On the Gazan side of the border, each truck is reloaded on to Palestinian number-plated lorries for further movements inside Gaza,” Mr Laerke said.
“The supplies are then delivered to accessible warehouses in southern Gaza.
“The northern part is largely inaccessible due to the fighting and movement restrictions imposed by Israel.”
NGOs trying to distribute aid in Gaza have to make decisions “hour by hour” to avoid the threats posed by Israeli shelling or ground operations. They also must accommodate the displacement of people, Mr Bayram said.
Sometimes, last minute but vital logistical decisions are made “as the lorries come in”, he said.
NGOs have had to change their plans when fighting cuts supplies off from those in need.
“Some NGOs don’t have warehouses, but the aid has to be stored somewhere. So, they end up using UNRWA warehouses and storage, which requires a lot of co-ordination as well,” Mr Bayram said. “You need to know where you need to bring your aid to and whether that area is safe, while your truck is on the way.”
During a seven-day truce in November, the Norwegian Refugee Council identified an area in central Gaza as a safe place to use to store aid.
“But when the truce was over, that area was not reachable any more.
Effectively our teams in Rafah were cut off from the aid. That’s an example of the hourly decisions you make because of the fluidity of the situation,” Mr Bayram said.
He said that aid workers often only know a few details of the distribution plan a day before the aid arrives.
Amid communication cuts and security concerns, NGOs often have to co-ordinate between themselves to determine who has received supplies and who is still in need.
“People are constantly on the move and so you need to co-ordinate with other NGOs so that you’re not giving one family two bottles of water and other families no bottles of water.
“To move around Gaza with a truck full of items is also not safe and you need to specify where you’re going,” Mr Bayram said.
Israel has instructed Gazans to relocate to Al Mawasi, an underdeveloped Bedouin settlement in the south-west of the enclave.
Many have not travelled to the area due to injuries, old age and the fear of being unable to return home.
The roads to the south have also been heavily bombed, with many bodies still on the streets.
“People here are desperate when they’ve already lost so much when they’re living in such difficult conditions,” Mr Ryan said.
“You can see that many people are worried about where they’re going to find food for their children, how they’re going to look after their loved ones and elderly family members.”
He said most organisations, such as the ICRC, had been calling for greater sustained delivery of humanitarian aid to meet the ever-growing need in Gaza.
“In recent weeks, many more people have left the north and travelled towards the south seeking somewhere safe to be. Those people have arrived with only the most basic items, things like blankets, mattresses if they have them, and maybe a small, meagre supply of food. This is not enough to sustain a family,” Mr Ryan said.
“And as the fighting continues, the need continues to grow.”
Steve Sosebee, who leads the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund said that aid organisations also needed to prepare for what happens after the war.
“To provide immediate, life-saving support to Gaza is critical, but we also have to think about the long-term planning required for Gaza to rehabilitate the lives of tens of thousands of children who have been significantly damaged and impaired as a result of this terrible crisis over the past months,” he said.
“We need fresh thinking and strategies and interventions that’ll take on the healing of Gaza’s younger generations.”
Those delivering aid to the enclave must avoid the threats posed by Israeli shelling, air strikes or ground operations