International development charity, Christian Aid, is warning that unless humanitarian access is granted to Gaza, and there is a cessation of violence, thousands of people face serious illness and death, as supplies of food, health equipment and clean water run out. The organisation reiterated that any attempt to block aid that results in starvation amounts to a war crime.
“Our established partners in Gaza are responding as best they can, under intense pressure, with medical relief and community-led initiatives such as food, shelter, sanitation and cash. However, it is extremely dangerous to move around, and supplies of essentials are running perilously low. To respond at any scale, we need unfettered humanitarian access,” William Bell, Christian Aid’s Head of Middle East Policy & Advocacy, explains.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports [16 Oct] 2,778 Palestinians have been killed and 10,850 have been injured because of airstrikes that have caused widespread destruction of homes, schools, healthcare facilities and telecommunication installations.
It is being reported that hospitals, already at breaking point, are now overwhelmed by casualties. Over a million people, roughly half of the population, have been displaced. With Gaza's only power plant run out of fuel, Christian Aid’s partners have confirmed cuts are affecting hospitals, closing food supply to shops and access to water and sanitation services.
“We have been evacuated to Khan Yunis,” says one of Christian Aid’s partners. The partner goes on to explain “100 people, mostly women and children are now at our partner’s centre, which has been transformed into a shelter.”
They added: “It is not easy at all. This is the first time in my life I have experienced what it means to be a refugee. What it feels like to be evacuated from your home and not knowing when you will come back.”
William Bell, Christian Aid’s Head of Middle East Policy & Advocacy, said:
“Words alone simply cannot paint the picture of the scale of human suffering in Khan Yunis. Hundreds of thousands of people fled there in recent days to seek refuge from the worst of the violence but were met last night with airstrikes.
“Our partners tell us that the medical supplies are running out, and that food and water are increasingly scarce. Yet since the conflict broke out, no aid - not a drop of water or a grain of wheat - has entered Gaza.
“Without humanitarian access, Christian Aid and our partners will be prevented from acting on the scale required. Aid can only reach those most in need in Gaza at scale once the crossings open and the bombs stop falling.
“Willfully impeding relief supplies constitutes a war crime under international law. It amounts to a death sentence for those trapped in Gaza. Thousands of innocent civilians in Gaza are being increasingly imperiled not only by airstrikes, but by hunger and thirst, as its people endure a second week of total siege.”
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