UN says it's ready to ramp up delivery of desperately needed aid to Gaza

FRANCE 24 English

Visit our website: http://www.france24.com  Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English  Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/France24_en

Transcript

00:00The ceasefire deal stipulates that 600 aid lorries should enter the territory of the

00:04Gaza Strip per day for the six weeks of the truce.

00:08But as bombs continue to fall and the deal awaits ratification, help is blocked.

00:1390% of Gazans still don't have enough to eat.

00:18The hope of a ceasefire starting on Sunday is a beacon for the embattled residents of

00:23the Gaza Strip.

00:24With it would come the promise of 600 lorries per day of humanitarian supplies.

00:30That's more than have reached the Strip in the whole of the month of January so far.

00:35Aid trucks are parked up along the Egyptian border as the Rafah crossing prepares to reopen.

00:44We are happy that we will be crossing the border and thank God Gaza will be blessed

00:48and we will be blessed, Egypt and the people who will be receiving the aid.

00:52We've been here for a long time waiting for them to allow us to cross.

01:01Supplies include food and grain, but also portable toilets as 90% of the population

01:06has been displaced, many living in tents without proper sanitation.

01:10Damage to wastewater infrastructure and healthcare facilities as well as overcrowded living conditions

01:16have led to outbreaks of disease amid food shortages that have become chronic.

01:20I can tell you that in the last couple of months we've been giving less assistance to

01:25the people.

01:26In terms of number it's more or less the same but we were giving them reduced ration size

01:31so we know that the situation is desperate.

01:34We know that there are some areas in Gaza that we were not able to reach, our request

01:39to move has been denied.

01:41Israeli forces have repeatedly failed to facilitate NGO's movement within the Strip and with the

01:47vast majority of aid convoys arriving through the southern Kerem Shalom crossing, little

01:52has reached the cities of the north where some areas are on the brink of famine and

01:56where the only remaining hospital, Al-Aouda, also faces critical shortages of fuel and

02:02supplies.

02:03In other words, the images of Antonio's story there really bringing home the problems facing

02:09the Palestinians there in the Gaza Strip.

02:11Let's bring in Tommaso Dallolonga from the International Federation of Red Cross and

02:15Red Crescent.

02:16Tommaso, thanks for being with us here in France 24.

02:18Aid is the issue.

02:19While the deal isn't ratified or even voted on by the Israeli cabinet, the people in Gaza

02:24are just not getting what they need.

02:25Indeed.

02:26First of all, Mark, thanks a lot for having me tonight and yes, people in Gaza, they're

02:30not getting what they need and sadly, I mean I would say shockingly, it's not news.

02:36This has been happening for almost the entire last 15 months of conflict and we are talking

02:41of the entire population of Gaza, more than 2 million people displaced without anything.

02:49Basically in a limbo where they are trying to survive with no safety, no basic, no food,

02:55no water, no health.

02:57And even recently with the cold weather and the rain, some of the camps that you're now

03:02showing were completely flooded and again and again they lost everything.

03:06So it's really a nightmare and a desperate situation.

03:09Since the truce was announced over 24 hours ago now, 77 more Palestinians have been killed

03:14in Israeli bombardment.

03:17Those who cynically look at the situation say the truce starts when the truce starts

03:21and it hasn't actually been concluded yet and it is supposed to kick in on Sunday.

03:25I'm wondering what the situation on the ground is like for your operatives who were there.

03:30You've described what people are facing but clearly you've got people there trying to

03:33provide help.

03:36It's a nightmare.

03:37It's a continuous nightmare.

03:38It's really hell on earth.

03:39I mean, I think that we really finished words some months ago to speak about what is going

03:46in Gaza and the frustration of the humanitarian community and of course, first and foremost,

03:50of the people in Gaza.

03:51It's just growing and growing and growing every other minute.

03:55I mean, the colleagues of Palestine Recrescent in Gaza are putting their life at risk almost

04:02every moment.

04:03They are affecting themselves.

04:04Their families are affecting themselves.

04:06They are telling us mixed feelings, like from one side, of course, there is hope, but on

04:11the other side, there is also fear that this will not go into happen.

04:16And again, they will live in a limbo.

04:18So we do hope that from Sunday on, it will be a massive scale up of humanitarian aid.

04:22Hostages will be back home and there will be security and safety and protection for

04:27civilians and humanitarian workers.

04:30Your concern, the concern of your colleagues is primarily for those who need help.

04:34Looking at their perspective as well, this must be incredibly difficult for them in terms

04:39of their mental state and their physical safety.

04:44Thanks a lot for this question.

04:47I think that the mental health, the psychological support that they will need, I mean, I'm

04:51thinking about our colleagues, the humanitarian workers of Palestine Recrescent, but the

04:55entire population is massive and there are wounds that are not physical wounds that

05:01maybe sometimes you cannot see it immediately, but then in the weeks and months to come

05:06will be there and it will be staying sometimes for years.

05:10Now we are we are seeing some children.

05:12I want to mention something that is really close to my heart that is an activity of the

05:17Palestine Recrescent with a little bus with the mental health support unit that is going

05:22around, they're calling the bus of the dreams and of the hope, because mental health, even

05:27in a moment where even food is not there, mental health is a priority because there

05:31is not health without mental health and these children need everything, but needs also to

05:35be able to sleep without fearing to be bombarded.

05:40Sadly, this coming night, more bombardment is predicted.

05:45Thomas, so if if this isn't concluded when it is supposed to be concluded on Sunday and

05:53when things are supposed to calm down, I mean, clearly the risks that you've just

05:58outlined, they are multiplied.

06:01There are going to be more deaths, more people in need, more risks, more problems.

06:06You know, indeed, I mean, I totally agree with your analysis, I mean, with your words

06:12and the point here, you know, it's really to me very difficult nowadays to speak about

06:18this because we have been 15 months calling for the same request, with the same request

06:25to all the parties highlighting exactly what was going to happen.

06:30No, no electricity means hospitals without fuel will not work.

06:35No medicine means that people will die for because they don't have access to basic

06:40health. No food, no water, no sanitation will bring more illness and more disease

06:46outbreak. And we predicted it.

06:49And not because we are kind of a magician, but because we know that in overcrowded

06:53space, without any basic, this is what is going to happen in a situation where there

06:57is no safe place everywhere in Gaza, which is already a tiny piece of land.

07:03So I do hope and a plea really to all the parties to make this happen and to stop this

07:10conflict as soon as possible, because the people in Gaza cannot survive anymore like

07:15this. And the family of the hostages and of course the hostages themselves must go

07:19back home.

07:20Thomas, I know you're supposed to be apolitical and separate and above politics and

07:25basically helping those in need.

07:26And that's why you've got the respect, I think, of everybody.

07:29But I've got to ask you this question, because we just heard from Israel's national

07:34security minister that he'll resign if this deal goes through.

07:38He's urging Benjamin Netanyahu to pull out of it completely.

07:40Netanyahu is delaying the vote because of what he says he wants Hamas to accept all

07:45the terms. Politics being played in some way, shape or form.

07:49Clearly, in the meantime, people suffering on the ground.

07:53What is your message?

07:54And you can refuse to answer if you wish, and I will understand that.

07:57But what is your message to the people who are deciding, to the politicians?

08:02I will never refuse to answer to this question because I think that it's key for our

08:06work, but most important for the community that we are trying to serve as much as

08:09possible. So the message to everyone who is in power, even to stakeholders, to everyone

08:16who can bring the message to whoever is in power, is to stop this conflict as soon as

08:22possible, create safety and protection of civilians, humanitarian workers and bring aid

08:28to these people.

08:30Suffering should not, must not have a flag or a political affiliation.

08:35These people deserve to be served in a dignified way.

08:40They deserve food. They deserve water.

08:42They deserve health.

08:44They deserve also to be treated in a proper way.

08:46So to leave Gaza, we don't have to forget that Gaza has been sealed.

08:51No way in, no way out.

08:53And this is something that it's really, again, on a humanitarian perspective, shocking

08:57because if you think about other conflict, I mean, I'm thinking about Sudan, Ukraine and

09:02other places where suffering is immense.

09:05I don't want to underestimate any kind of suffering.

09:07At least there is kind of movement of population.

09:10People can try sometimes without being able to, to survive and to escape.

09:15In Gaza, this is not possible and it's something must stop.

09:18So the call on whoever is in power is to act immediately because the people in Gaza and

09:23the hostages don't have any more time.

09:26Thomas, thank you very much.

09:27Your words are now out there for people to hear and digest.

09:32Power to you, power to your colleagues.

09:34And let's hope that they're kept safe and their job is helped by some kind of accord

09:39which is reached and agreed by Sunday, if not before.

09:43Why not? If not before?

09:44We know these things take time.

09:46Tomaso de la Longa from the International.

Category

Transcript

Recommended