Gaza Humanitarian Crisis Is At 'Point Of No Return'— Here's What US Needs To Do_ Oxfam America CEO

Forbes Breaking News

There has been international outrage over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, as the war between Israel and Hamas has been playing out for close to two years. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification said that "the worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in the Gaza Strip" and there is “mounting evidence shows that widespread starvation, malnutrition, and disease are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths.” President and CEO of Oxfam America Abby Maxman joined Brittany Lewis on "Forbes Newsroom" to discuss.

Transcript

00:00Hi, everybody. I'm Brittany Lewis, a breaking news reporter here at Forbes. Joining me now

00:08is President and CEO of Oxfam America, Abby Maxman. Abby, thank you so much for joining me.

00:14Thanks for having me, Brittany.

00:17We have really seen international outrage ramp up over the humanitarian crisis that

00:21is currently unfolding in Gaza. And this comes as the war between Israel and Hamas has been

00:26playing out now for close to two years. The integrated food security phase classification

00:30said that the worst case scenario of famine is currently playing out in the Gaza Strip

00:35and quote, mounting evidence shows that widespread starvation, malnutrition and disease are driving

00:40a rise in hunger related deaths. So to start off the conversation, what is your reaction to what

00:45we're currently seeing in the Middle East? Well, Brittany, it is tragic. And it's a tragedy that

00:52does not to be need to be happening. Oxfam staff and our partners are witnessing scenes

00:57that defy belief. We see families wasting away from hunger, collapsing in the street,

01:05malnourished children too weak to cry, preventable diseases that are spiraling,

01:10and a medical system that's all but collapsed as Israel continues to bomb, force people who are so

01:16weak to move yet again with force displacement orders. And Israel has created a humanitarian

01:23catastrophe that is becoming more and more desperate and deadly with each passing day. We are seeing the

01:30signs of starvation taking hold. And for those of us who have sadly witnessed these tragic moments

01:36before, we know what we're seeing. It's a watershed moment. Dozens of deaths from malnutrition

01:43in 24-hour periods. We need to act now. And food is sitting on the borders of the Gaza Strip,

01:52unable to get in. In one case, it just heard from another partner organization that food had gone

01:59and passed its expiry date while people are going hungry inside the Gaza Strip.

02:05You're saying that this doesn't need to be happening and we need to act now. Specifically,

02:10what can Oxfam America do right now? Are your hands tied? What does that really look like?

02:16Well, we are not able to really do our jobs at the scale that we need to. We have not been since

02:22the ceasefire ended several months ago. And so we are doing what we can. Our staff and colleagues and

02:29partners who also are suffering from a lack of access to food and clean water. One of my colleagues

02:36shared with somebody that she feels guilty when she is able to have one meal a day, a small piece of

02:44something to give her nourishment while those around her do not have access to what they need,

02:48but still going out and doing what we can to provide water tankering, access to clean water,

02:56some small things that we're able to do. But it is nowhere near enough because the conditions are not

03:04enabling us to do it. And as Israel starves Palestinians in Gaza, any aid can help. But

03:12delivering it through other means that are dangerous and ineffective when there are over

03:19100 football fields worth of aid sitting outside of Gaza, ready to be delivered safely through land

03:26crossings right now, it's heartbreaking, it's heartless, it's harmful. And we really are at the

03:32point of no return, because the next days, and I'd say weeks, if we're lucky, we'll really determine

03:38if people in Gaza die or live, and if they will live with lifelong health implications from now

03:45nutrition. So organizations like ours are ready, are there, are able to scale up if the conditions are

03:54put in place that allow us to do our jobs in ways that we know work.

03:59President Trump has commented on this. And as we know, the United States and Israel are allies,

04:05but he did break with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He said that the images out

04:10of Gaza show, quote, real starvation. And he also added this, you can't fake that. So we're going to

04:16be even more involved. A, what do you think of his commentary there? And B, what would you want to

04:21see the United States do right now? Because as you said, this is a watershed moment, and the next days

04:25and weeks really matter. Well, President Trump has come to an overdue but very important conclusion

04:33that Israel is simply unwilling to allow aid into Gaza in any meaningful way. Witnessing the images

04:40of children starving, of mothers too weak to nurse, is this watershed moment. So what we need to see

04:49is an urgent and sustained surge of aid right now. But the US and others must do more than spend more

04:57money on just food that's only get to four distribution points. They need to help find a

05:03solution that is significant. We need a flood the zone approach. There are experienced aid professionals,

05:10ourselves included, our teams with vast stocks of lifesaving aid who are poised and pleading to be

05:18allowed to spring back into action. We are there, we are ready, and our experts, humanitarian experts,

05:24teams of them, other organizations, partners, we have decades of experience in ensuring lifesaving aid

05:30safely reaches the people in Gaza who need it most. So we need and urge the US to partner with others

05:37to push to open the land crossings to allow in food, water, medicine, shelter, highly specialized materials

05:45and expertise that is now needed for the many in the last painful stages of malnutrition.

05:53So the US pledge of aid can't happen in a vacuum. We need safe access for humanitarian aid to reach

05:59communities. We need an immediate and permanent ceasefire. And the US has an extraordinarily unique

06:06position to use its leverage to get that. And the release of the hostages and illegally detained

06:12prisoners to have the best hope to avert the people of Gaza falling into an even greater catastrophe.

06:19To that point, I know there are international calls on Israel to allow more aid in because,

06:27I mean, the images that are coming out are just horrifying. You think there needs to be a louder

06:31call from the international community on Hamas to release these hostages too? Because then in that case,

06:37there can be a ceasefire because we're seeing what is playing out in Gaza and this humanitarian crisis

06:43continue to unfold.

06:45Well, we definitely need to see all the international community and the US putting all of their muscle

06:53and effort and expectations to secure this ceasefire. All parties must do their part to be at the

07:01negotiating table. But in the meantime, in the meantime, so these things happen have to happen

07:07to get that ceasefire to release the hostages. But and to enable the humanitarian community who are on the

07:16ground to do our jobs, we were begging to be able to do do them in ways that save lives and do no harm.

07:25And what we're seeing at distribution sites that are set up by Israel and supported by the US are,

07:31one might even say, from a dystopian nightmare. It's only the strongest are able to walk miles to

07:39these sites. They have to duck and sprint, avoiding bullets and be pushed into queues to receive

07:44what are not even meals. They're food that needs clean water and fuel to cook and the strongest get

07:50access to it. So we really need both things to happen. The US and the international community

07:57to make sure to demand a ceasefire and and the Israel to enable humanitarian access and this

08:06functional humanitarian system in Gaza to resume. We had 400 aid distribution sites before. Now there

08:14are four and they're becoming killing fields. And it's not how humanitarian aid works. We must be

08:21allowed to bring in our supplies, to use our expertise and trust with communities. And of course,

08:28the US needs to use its muscle and the international community to secure a ceasefire, to demand that all

08:35parties enable access. And we need an end to the siege and bombardment to make all that possible.

08:42Do you think there's anything missing really from this international conversation when it comes to

08:47humanitarian aid? Because by its very nature, humanitarian aid should not be political. It should

08:53not be partisan. It should not be any of that. Do you think something's missing here?

09:00You know, watching this can really make us all feel feel powerless, I'd say. But in the US, I would say

09:08we have more power than anybody realizes. I think what is missing at the moment with a special

09:16relationship between the US and Israel, that we can use our influence with this administration,

09:23that we have the power to stop this starvation of children that people are seeing on TV. We can move

09:31President Trump to action to take action of what he wants and cares about. And we can refuse to look

09:38away. And also, we know that there's two hands here. Congress can do much more. Recently, there was a

09:47vote on US arms to Israel, it passed, it approved more weapons. But it's disappointing, because that's

09:53fueling the atrocities, we need political solutions to fix and turn the tide in this terrible trajectory.

10:02And so selling arms on the one hand, while concurrently working for a peace deal, and also

10:08enabling humanitarian access, we must get aid in, we need the ceasefire, we know the US has power to

10:17influence that. And we need to encourage everybody to use our voice, make sure we're not looking away,

10:24tell friends and family what's happening, and influence the administration, because President

10:30Trump does respond to images. And this is a time where he can use his muscle to bring an end to this

10:38terrible tragedy.

10:39And just how strong is that US muscle, would you say? Because you said that we have a lot of

10:46a lot of power here. And let's say you could get in front of Congress, let's say you could even get

10:49in front of President Trump today. What would you tell them to do? What would be the ideal solution?

10:56Because as you said, watershed moment, what happens in the next few days is critical.

11:00Well, I would say, require, demand the relationship, the special relationship of the United States

11:09with Israel, demand the ceasefire, demand it now, stop transferring arms, well, and require a ceasefire

11:20now. Obviously, release of the hostages and the detained prisoners.

11:28And enable us and humanitarian workers to do our jobs. I think it is

11:36in the power and the gift of President Trump's administration to ensure that a deal happens.

11:45He's a deal maker. Make it happen. Bring a ceasefire to bear so that there are pathways to peace,

11:53a surge, an urgent surge of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, and allow us to do our jobs. This

12:04has been going on for far too long. It is a tragedy unfolding before our eyes. As I watch my colleagues

12:12waste away in front of our eyes. It is harrowing. It's horrible. It's unconscionable. There's horrors that

12:19have happened since October 7. They continue to happen. And we need to make sure that this comes

12:25to an end. And the U.S. uses all its influence, all its power to stop it. And it can.

12:32And like I said at the top of this conversation, the IPC labeled this the worst-case scenario of

12:39famine that's happening right now in Gaza. I mean, what are the long-term implications of that?

12:45Oh, the long-term implications are terrible. It can have huge impact on, well, certainly,

12:54children's development, human development. What happens now matters so much, obviously,

13:01in saving lives, in life or death, but also in what happens afterwards. We know that the impacts of

13:09severe acute malnutrition have lifelong adverse impact on people's development. We see mothers,

13:18nursing mothers, pregnant mothers wasting away. And not to mention the trauma that 2 million people

13:28living in the Gaza Strip, who have been living under constant bombardment, on the move, forced

13:34displacement, very little access to food, clean water, healthcare system in collapse. The trauma

13:43is also enormous. Everything is needed for the dignity and security for all Palestinians and Israelis

13:52to have a new future. And we know that the current, the present situation is not that. It's not good for

13:59anybody and for the peace, the prosperity for Israelis and Palestinians to live together to recover from

14:06this terrible tragedy. But the impact on physical and human health are enormous, and it has to stop.

14:13Well, there's certainly a lot to look out for in this situation as we see developments. And I hope you

14:19can come back on and break them down with me. Abby Maxman, I always appreciate our conversations.

14:24Thank you so much for providing your insight today. Thank you so much, Brittany. I appreciate it.

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