LONDON: Palestinian aid workers have described conditions in Gaza as “catastrophic,” with Israel continuing to block most aid supplies two weeks after a ceasefire deal took effect in the territory.
Only a fraction of the number of trucks Israel agreed to allow into the territory under the agreement have arrived and Palestinian families are struggling to find food to meet their basic nutritional needs, representatives of nongovernmental organizations said on Thursday.
The sobering assessment coincided with a call from dozens of organizations operating in Gaza demanding that Israel allow humanitarian aid to flow freely into the decimated territory. They accused Israeli authorities of arbitrarily rejecting shipments among the $50 million of life-saving aid supplies stuck at border crossings, and imposing a new registration process on NGOs to delay their work.
“We expected Gaza to be flooded with aid the moment the ceasefire began but that’s not what we’re seeing,” said Bushra Khalidi, the Palestinian territory policy lead at Oxfam.
“If aid continues to be arbitrarily rejected, and if families are not able to access clean water or return to their homes, then this is not a ceasefire that protects civilians.”
