How can aid groups protect vulnerable civilians in Gaza from famine?

CGTN Europe

CGTN Europe spoke to Tommaso Della Longa, Spokesperson and Manager of the Media Unit at International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Transcript

00:00Tommaso Della Longa speaks for the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

00:05Welcome to the program. What are your teams telling you about the situation on the ground in Gaza?

00:14Yeah, first thanks a lot for having me today.

00:16What the Palestinian Red Crescent colleagues are telling us is that the situation is simply unbearable for the people in Gaza.

00:22It's just a nightmare that is renewed day after day where people are struggling to find all the basics.

00:30We're talking about lack of food or water, of health support.

00:33And in particular, what we are hearing is that the health support that the Palestinian Red Crescent colleagues are keeping,

00:40trying to give to the communities they serve, it will be less in the next hours and days,

00:49basically because there is lack of medicine, lack of medical equipments and lack of fuel for the generators.

00:54I guess the world is familiar with what happens after a natural disaster,

01:00but what can aid groups possibly do to mitigate what is a man-made famine?

01:08I think that is a very good question and is part of the frustration that the humanitarian sector has.

01:14I think that, of course, we are, I mean, the framework where we are all working as humanitarians

01:21is set up by the international communities, by the parties of the conflict.

01:25Of course, let's say without having access to Gaza Strip,

01:30without having the possibility to bring humanitarian aid inside the Gaza Strip,

01:35we cannot do properly our work.

01:38So I think that it's up to the international community to do their utmost,

01:45to make sure that the people in Gaza will get what they need.

01:49Sadly, we have been keeping repeating the same messages for almost 19 months,

01:53and still the situation is what we are seeing.

01:56The Israeli military offensive intensifies, it continues.

02:01I mean, what does that mean in straightforward terms for the most vulnerable people in Gaza?

02:08Well, it means that people are displaced around Gaza, maybe for the 14th or 15th time.

02:16It means that people feel that there is no safety for them.

02:21It means that there is no logistics to move around the Gaza Strip.

02:24It means that fathers and mothers don't know how to feed their own children

02:31or where to find health support for their relatives.

02:36So again, as I said, needs are enormous, are increasing day after day.

02:42And the more we are not able to keep up the humanitarian operation at scale,

02:47the more we will see the suffering of people growing.

02:50It's an awful milestone to have to mark, but we are now at 19 months of attacks on Gaza.

02:56What is your outlook on how long Gaza can endure?

03:02Well, I don't think that anyone in the world can continue to survive to this level of suffering.

03:11Now, sadly, for the situation that the people in Gaza has to suffer in many, many years,

03:17not just in the last 19 months, the level of resilience of the community in Gaza,

03:22it's really incredible.

03:23But this is, of course, it's not acceptable.

03:27So the idea and the request is really that all the entire international community

03:31will make the utmost, of course, to protect civilians and protect humanitarian workers,

03:36but really to scale up the entrance of humanitarian aid

03:39and then to create a situation where we are able to do our work

03:43because it's not enough to bring a truck on the border inside the Gaza Strip.

03:47But then we need to create a condition where humanitarian teams can work

03:53and then civilians can still protect and respect in getting what they need.

03:58Tommaso, thank you for joining us again.

03:59Tommaso Della Longa, who speaks for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

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