The NGO denounces the inability to unload and transfer aid in the Palestinian enclave: “Nothing exists”
He states that this is a long-term crisis in which humanitarian organizations are the “last resort” left.
June 4 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The NGO Action Against Hunger reported this Tuesday that 30 percent of children under two years of age residing in the Gaza Strip, where more than half of the population are children, struggle with acute malnutrition, a figure that has increased significantly since the Israeli offensive against the area began on October 7.
This was stated by the Nutrition coordinator of the organization’s emergency team on the ground, Cristina Izquierdo, who indicated during an event held at the NGO’s headquarters in Madrid that “before the outbreak of the conflict in Gaza, this hunger rate was 0.8 percent.”
“The projection is that it will continue to worsen due to the level of destruction of infrastructure, which affects hospitals, schools, electrical installations…”, lamented Izquierdo, who pointed out that “there are no basic services” for a population that is ” on the brink of famine.”
Due to the rapid deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the area, the organization’s workers have been forced to take action measures on the “direct causes” of hunger, as explained before stating that in order to declare famine they must a series of fundamental criteria must be met that are not easily verifiable at this time given the characteristics of the crisis in Gaza.
“There must be low food consumption (at least 20 percent of the population must have a serious or extreme problem in obtaining food or means to face this deficit), a very high rate of acute malnutrition, greater than 30 percent in children under five years of age and excessive mortality,” he said.
In the case of Gaza, he clarified, “currently it is not possible to know with certainty whether these three indicators are met due to the lack of access to the population to carry out the relevant and representative sampling that allows us to be sure of the data collected.” “We have data that allows us to make projections and those projections mention that in the coming months we could reach the famine phase. (…) We will not have absolute certainty until we can access the population,” she said.
For his part, Rafael de Prado, an expert in the relationship between hunger and conflict, has indicated that there are three fundamental factors that lead to these crises around the world; conflict, climate consequences and rising energy and food prices. “All this causes hunger and acute hunger to grow considerably. There are a series of common patterns that we find in all conflict situations,” he said.
In the case of Gaza, he has emphasized that it is a long-term crisis, which constitutes an “additional erosive factor.” In this sense, he has requested an “immediate and indefinite ceasefire and sustained and secure access” to the Palestinian enclave. “Organizations like ours are the last resort, and if this does not work, total collapse occurs,” he said before highlighting the importance of International Law.
As he has pointed out, what we are experiencing in Gaza “is not famine, but people are already dying from diseases derived from malnutrition.” For this reason, she has called to “work preventively, without waiting for famine to occur, the declaration of which depends on a complex process by a committee.”
DISTRIBUTION OF AID
De Prado thus wanted to highlight the importance of border crossings remaining open, with the fluid and continuous entry of aid, while he has ruled out the launch of humanitarian aid: “these solutions have proven to be very ineffective.”
He has been joined by the coordinator of emergency projects, Fenia Diamanti, who has expressed that “right now everything in Gaza is very complicated.” “The easiest and simplest thing requires extreme coordination and preparation work. In Gaza nothing exists. Expatriates who work in the humanitarian sector have to bring all their food, their hygiene items, everything,” explained the She was also head of the Action Against Hunger base.
“In recent weeks and after several evacuations, we can only distribute drinking water, shelter kits and the little fresh food that remains,” said Diamanti, who explained that the products that enter Gaza are then “supervised and controlled by the Israeli authorities”.
“Once inside there is no capacity to unload the aid because the Rafah crossing has become a combat area. Everything enters through Kerem Shalom and there is no capacity to unload, store and transfer. There are no roads. It is almost impossible to carry the aid. things from the south to the north, beyond the entrance area. There is also no fuel and without fuel the wells, nor the desalination plazas nor the hospitals… Nothing,” he stated.
Regarding the possible access routes for the entry of humanitarian aid, he detailed that “a single route is not useful in itself.” “The launches are not enough and cost a lot, in addition to the fact that they do not cover the basic needs of the population. Nor can we depend on aid by sea. We need land routes to be opened, both from the north and the south. ( …) We must talk about how to download, supervise, control and move aid,” he continued.
Diamanti expressed his regret at the fact that “expatriates have more access to land than the Palestinians themselves have” and pointed out that the streets of northern Gaza are now unrecognizable after the bombings. “More than half of Gazans are children, but you don’t realize it until you are there and you see them everywhere. More than 80 percent of the infrastructure is destroyed, there is nowhere to go,” he added.
SITUATION IN THE WEST BANK
Both Diamanti and the head of the Action Against Hunger emergency team, Noelia Monge, have taken advantage of the occasion to remember the importance of also focusing on the situation faced by Palestinians living in the West Bank, where there has been a rise in violence by Israeli settlers.
“Throughout 2023 we were already witnessing unprecedented levels of violence, never recorded before. Every month, 280 people are violently displaced from their homes and have nowhere to go. In one week in May alone, 28 settler attacks were recorded that resulted in dead children, theft of property and contaminated crops,” Diamanti denounced.
“The population has a feeling of insecurity that does not allow them to sleep, they do not know if the next day they will have access to their livelihoods, if their children will have access to school, if they will be able to move freely in what used to be their neighborhood. In Regarding food security, all these attacks have consequences on access to food. Adults restrict their food to ensure that children eat,” he noted before recalling that the organization’s workers have not had access to food for months. colleagues who live and work in the West Bank.
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