Backup workers in Gaza also fighting for survival: NPR

There is almost negative support entering Gaza at the moment.

This is a harsh reality for everyone, including humanitarian workers trying to survive while providing much-needed aid in a coastal region devastated by 8 months of war.

A Forgiveness Corps aid assistant, who requested anonymity for security reasons, told NPR that he was previously from Rafah, the southernmost city, but three weeks ago he wanted to flee to Khan Yunis, just north. . Due to worsening situation. He said many children in Gaza are suffering from both malnutrition and dehydration – including his own children, who have contracted minor illnesses from contaminated water.

“My little one suffered from diarrhoea, which led to rapid weight loss,” she said. “My little one is suffering from stomach ache and keeps vomiting.”

Doctors suspect that the child has hepatitis.

Another aid assistant in Gaza, who requested anonymity for security reasons, said he has been on humanitarian missions for a decade, including in Sudan, Iraq and Ukraine. He told NPR that Gaza is the worst situation he has ever seen. He said he had recently visited a huge camp, which had a makeshift cemetery beyond its doors.

What troubled him, he added, were the seven or eight freshly dug pits, which were capable of causing civilians to die later.

alarm

Humanitarian groups continue to sound the alarm as aid deliveries were halted due to growing security concerns in the Gaza Strip.

The United Nations said it would suspend aid operations until more was done to protect humanitarian workers.

Global Food Program spokesman Abeer Etefa said the Israeli military had to create more secure conditions for them because working arrangements around the patch had become “almost impossible” over the past few weeks.

The ongoing tension between the UN, humanitarian organizations and Israel over barriers to distributing aid to Gazans comes as the latest report from the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Cluster Classification (IPC) says 500,000 Palestinians are at risk. hunger. Additionally, the record states that 95% of the country is at “crisis” level or worse. The IPC also warned that as long as the conflict continues, and humanitarian access remains restricted, there is a “high risk” of famine that will only deepen.

The United Nations and humanitarian aid organizations have blamed Israel for delaying vital deliveries of food and alternative goods due to military attacks in southern Gaza, difficult assessments on incoming aid deliveries, and inadequate security, which has harmed aid workers. And have taken the lives of other people. ,

They also say that growing frustration has led to a breakdown in law and order in the area, with civilians carrying out major attacks on aid trucks and staff.

One aid assistant, who requested anonymity for security reasons, told NPR that Gazans have become distrustful of efforts to distribute aid. He said there is minimal support available, and if it is, they are items purchased privately “at exorbitant prices” on the market.

“Everyone believes there is rigging in aid distribution,” he said. “Nobody around me gets any aid.”

Kate Phillips-Barrasso, vice president of world coverage and advocacy at Forgiveness Corps, said the Israeli military’s offensive into Rafah in early May to attack additional Hamas battalions in the city had prevented Gazans from providing vital aid. Had stopped.

“People are enduring inhumane conditions, taking desperate measures such as boiling weeds, eating animal fodder and exchanging clothes for money to avoid hunger and keep their children alive,” he said.

A USAID spokesperson echoed some of those views, announcing that more than 10,000 aid drops are ready to go to Gaza within the sea corridor.

According to COGAT, the company that implements the annexed West Reserve for the Israeli military and government policy in Gaza, the contents of more than 1,150 aid trucks are ready to be delivered from the Gazan side of the Kerem Shalom crossing and the offloading of 8,009 US floating piers. Palette on department. Israeli government spokesman David Menser says that private organizations were able to effectively deliver aid to Palestinian society, while the United Nations has been “helpless” in its aid distribution efforts and that Hamas is deliberately consuming the people of the Gaza Strip. ,

backup teams say Large-scale shipments of support to the Strip throughout March and April helped to improve the collection starvation ultimatum during the spring, although that ultimatum was withdrawn after Israel’s offensive in Rafah in the following hours, which brought in support. The existing infrastructure has been demolished to make way for the change.

The floating ferries, coordinated by the US military, an effort costing more than $200 million to give Gazans extra aid leave, has largely failed in its project due to weather-related headaches, administrative hurdles, delays, and looting.

Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said that as of May 17, U.S. Central Command has transported more than 6,800 metric tons of humanitarian aid across the pier. On the other hand, this figure pales in comparison to the 59,000 metric piles delivered in April and the 30,000 metric piles delivered on land routes in May.

And U.S. officials said Friday that the pier would be moved again due to bad weather and would not be returned if aid teams canceled access.