'Grave ramifications' for Gaza civilians: Israel 'hampering' aid organisations' ability to respond

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00:00Now, meanwhile, while the world's focus is on the Israel-Iran war,

00:07the killing continues in Gaza, according to the Territory Civil Defense Agency.

00:14More than 70 killed just this Thursday alone, including 21 near food distribution points.

00:22Food distribution points where there have been near-daily scenes of bloodshed

00:29since Israel and a U.S.-backed scheme to bypass the U.N. for food aid deliveries.

00:38Well, for more, let's cross to Shaina Lowe,

00:42who is communications advisor for the Norwegian Refugee Council.

00:47Thank you for speaking with us from Amman, Jordan.

00:49Thank you for having me.

00:53First of all, tell us what the Norwegian Refugee Council,

00:57what its presence is in the Gaza Strip today and what its people in the field have seen.

01:05We've been present in Gaza for over 15 years,

01:09and our response scaled up tremendously, of course, after October 7th and in the months ensuing.

01:15But now our response is at nearly a standstill,

01:19because no aid has gotten in, or very little aid has gotten in,

01:24since March 2nd, before March 2nd, when Israel imposed a total siege.

01:29Since then, the U.N. has been able to bring in some flour,

01:32some medical supplies, and some materials needed to treat malnutrition.

01:38But we are continuing to provide clean drinking water daily to tens of thousands of Palestinians

01:46throughout the Gaza Strip.

01:47But that, too, might be coming to a close,

01:50as no fuel has entered in over 100 days,

01:53and fuel supplies are rapidly dwindling,

01:56and those are needed not only to fuel desalination plants,

02:01as well as water trucks and water wells,

02:04but basically the entire humanitarian response.

02:09Telecommunications will go down, hospitals will collapse,

02:13bakeries will stop operating.

02:16We are really at a point of catastrophe,

02:20given that we are very limited in the amount of aid that we have.

02:24We ran out of stocks weeks ago,

02:26and have not been able to bring them through,

02:28despite hundreds of thousands, millions of dollars worth of aid

02:33sitting in Egypt and Jordan just waiting to cross in to Gaza.

02:37And has your staff been able to corroborate these daily reports

02:43coming from the territory of killings near food distribution points?

02:51Yes.

02:52Our colleagues have been hearing about these.

02:54They are not near the distribution points,

02:56but they know what is going on.

02:58They know that it is extremely dangerous

03:00and that people are really being forced to choose

03:03between trying to feed their families and risking death.

03:08It's not surprising what we have seen happening

03:12since the GHF began its operations a couple of weeks ago,

03:17but we are, and our staff, are incredibly disturbed,

03:21seeing that day after day,

03:23as hungry people are going to seek the limited food

03:27that is being distributed by the GHF,

03:30that they are being killed and injured in the process.

03:33The GHF, this Israel and U.S.-backed organization

03:37that's suddenly appeared,

03:39what are Israeli authorities telling you

03:41as far as the fact that the regular channels

03:44for distributing aid are not getting through?

03:48Well, the Israelis have made it clear

03:50that they intend to continue to block the UN

03:53and traditional humanitarian actors

03:55from being able to do the work that we do.

03:58We've seen signs, of course,

04:00that they want to continue with working with the GHF.

04:05And really, it's not surprising to us,

04:09given that we are working to help support life in Gaza.

04:15And what we've seen over the last 20 months

04:18is every effort to quash human life and society in Gaza

04:23through the destruction of critical infrastructure,

04:25through the destruction and collapse of the medical system,

04:28and now through impeding the entry,

04:31despite Israel's obligations under international law,

04:35to allow and facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid.

04:39And there was this five-day period

04:40where telephone and internet was cut.

04:43Any word on why?

04:44Well, the communications lines

04:48appeared to have been struck by Israeli forces,

04:50and then it took several days

04:52in order for the Israelis to agree

04:55to allow the coordination for repairs to be made.

05:00We are still, while internet service has resumed

05:03in northern Gaza,

05:04we are still struggling daily to reach our teams

05:07in the central and southern parts of Gaza,

05:09also obviously hampering the ability for us

05:12to respond to ensure that the programming

05:15that we're continuing to do,

05:16particularly the water trucking,

05:18is going ahead as planned.

05:21Is this part of a deliberate policy,

05:24is what people are wondering?

05:26Is it, what is the, what is the calculus here?

05:30Well, it's not for me to say

05:33what the Israeli plans are in terms of,

05:36and why, what their intentions are,

05:37but obviously it's having grave ramifications

05:40on the ground,

05:41not just for our operations,

05:43but also to get ambulances

05:45and emergency teams to respond

05:47where there are strikes.

05:49People who hear strikes near them

05:51do not know where they are coming from.

05:53If Israel is issuing relocation directives

05:56or displacement orders,

05:58as they've done dozens of times

05:59since March 18th

06:01and dozens more times since October 7th,

06:04people are unaware if they're being issued,

06:06they're unaware if they are currently living

06:09in places where they are being told

06:11to flee from.

06:12It's really creating a tremendous amount

06:15of difficulties

06:16and will essentially bring life to a stop

06:20as people are freezing in place

06:21and unable to coordinate moving

06:24and the humanitarian response.

06:29Shenilo, you mentioned relocation orders.

06:32You've put out a statement flagging,

06:35what is it, something like 83%

06:37of the population of Gaza

06:39is either displaced

06:41or living in shelters or on the move?

06:46Well, 1.9 million Palestinians

06:49have been displaced

06:50since the onset of hostilities

06:52in October of 2023.

06:54Just since Israel broke the ceasefire

06:57in March,

06:59over 680,000 Palestinians

07:02have been re-displaced.

07:03For many of them,

07:05this is the 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th time

07:08that they have been forced to flee.

07:10These people are showing up

07:12at displacement centers

07:13in what is about 17% of the Gaza Strip

07:17that is not under military displacement orders

07:20or military no-go zones.

07:22And so they are showing up empty-handed

07:24without any tents

07:26or other shelter supplies.

07:28There are over 49,000 tents

07:31waiting to enter Gaza

07:33and not a single tent

07:34or shelter supply

07:36has entered Gaza

07:37since before March 2nd.

07:39We are really struggling

07:41to support people

07:42as they continue to be displaced,

07:44as they continue to look

07:45for safe places

07:46for them and their families

07:48to sleep.

07:49But Israel continues

07:52to block

07:53and prevent

07:53any shelter materials

07:55from entering

07:55despite the fact

07:57that not only has

07:58the Norwegian Refugee Council

08:00but all of the organizations

08:02that work

08:02through the UN system

08:04distributing shelter materials.

08:06We are all

08:06out of stocks.

08:07I want to thank you

08:10so much

08:11for being with us

08:12there

08:13from

08:14Amman, Jordan.

08:16Shaina Lowe,

08:17thanks for joining us

08:18here on France 24.

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