Aid groups ready to ramp up
Representatives of several international humanitarian organizations welcomed news of a temporary cease-fire between Israel and Hamas but said it was insufficient to address the dire humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.
Negotiators on Wednesday were still working out details of the pause in fighting, including the amount of supplies that would be allowed in. It was expected to last at least four days, and would bring some relief to 2.2 million Palestinians who are running perilously short on water, food and medicine.
The executive director of UNICEF, Catherine Russell, told the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday that the agency was “positioned to quickly scale up the delivery of desperately needed humanitarian aid in Gaza.” But, she said, “this is far from enough” to meet the growing needs of Palestinians.
Speaking at a news briefing Wednesday, representatives of other humanitarian organizations said it would take much longer than four days to meet the needs of the civilian population in Gaza.
“This is not humanitarian access. It’s a joke — four days is nothing. We need more,” said Joel Weiler, the executive director of Doctors of the World. Even four weeks would not be enough for “minimum basic humanitarian assistance,” he said.
The officials said more time would be needed for the groups to transport aid, set up the infrastructure needed to distribute it, adequately monitor the health care needs of patients and route patients to appropriate health care providers.
“Health care is a continuous need. Access to food, water is a continuous need. Protection is a continuous need,” said Danila Zizi, the country manager for the Palestinian territories at Handicap International.
The officials also stressed the need for security guarantees for their teams in Gaza in order to ensure they could travel freely and provide aid to civilians. Family members of those kidnapped from Israel during Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack have repeatedly called for international aid organizations like the Red Cross to visit their loved ones in Gaza and provide necessary treatment, but aid organizations have so far been unable to do so.
“We call for a sustained cease-fire in order to have security for our people to be able to move on the ground and for the civilians to be able to reach the humanitarian aid that is being delivered,” said Chiara Saccardi, a Middle East official at Action Against Hunger.
The organizations called for more crossings between Israel and Gaza to be opened for humanitarian purposes. So far, all aid has trickled in through the Rafah crossing on the Egypt border.
Officials also expressed concern that the four-day pause in fighting would delay efforts for a more sustained cease-fire — a result many of the groups have sought on humanitarian grounds, but one Israeli and U.S. officials have repeatedly said would amount to a victory for Hamas.
“The call for a pause cannot stand in the way of a call for a permanent ceasefire,” said Paul O’Brien, the executive director of Amnesty International USA.