The process of rebuilding the devastated Palestinian territory will “take a lot of time” despite the promised increase in humanitarian aid, the UN official in Gaza has warned.
“We’re not just talking about food, health care, buildings, roads, infrastructure. We have individuals, families, communities that need to be rebuilt,” said Sam Rose, acting director of the UN agency for Palestinian Regees (Unrwa) in. Gaza, he told the BBC.
After a cease-fire agreement and the release of hostages between Israel and Hamas went into effect on Sunday, at least 1,545 aid trucks have crossed into Gaza, the UN said.
Trucks brought food, tents, blankets, mattresses and clothes that were much needed during the winter that had been stuck outside Gaza for months.
The ceasefire agreement reportedly requires 600 aid trucks, including 50 carrying fuel, to be allowed into Gaza every day during the first six-week phase, in which Hamas must release 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners being returned to Gaza. – Israel.
“We are expecting a big increase in aid coming, and it is very easy for us to go and get that aid because many of the problems we have faced so far in the war will end when we fight. it stops,” said Mr Rose.
“We are no longer going to a conflict zone. We no longer need to coordinate this whole organization with the Israeli authorities,” he added. “And we’ve never today… faced any major problems with looting and crime.”
But he also emphasized that “we must move away from thinking of the needs of the people in Gaza as a function of the amount of aid”.
“Everyone in Gaza is traumatized by what happened. Everyone has lost something. Most of those homes have been destroyed, many roads have been destroyed,” he added. “It’s going to be a long, long process of rebuilding and rebuilding.”
The regional director of the World Health Organization, Hanan Balky, said he has a 60-day plan to restore the health system in Gaza to meet the urgent needs of the people and prioritize the care of thousands of life-changing injuries.
The plan includes rehabilitating Gaza’s hospitals – half of which are defunct and others partially functional – establishing temporary clinics in the worst-hit areas, tackling malnutrition and controlling disease outbreaks.
Drone footage showed widespread destruction in the northern town of Jabalia [Reuters]
On Sunday night, UN chief Tom Fletcher warned that the humanitarian needs of Palestinians in Gaza were “appalling”.
UN officials have previously blamed the humanitarian crisis on Israeli military restrictions on aid delivery, fighting and violations of law and order.
Israel has insisted that there are no limits on the amount of aid that can be delivered to the rest of Gaza and has accused UN agencies of failing to distribute the necessary supplies. It also accused Hamas of stealing aid, which the group denies.
The Israeli army launched an operation to destroy Hamas due to an unprecedented attack on the border on October 7, 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were captured. Israel says 91 of the hostages are still in custody.
More than 47,000 people have been killed and 111,000 injured in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in the area.
Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been repeatedly displaced, 60% of buildings are estimated to be damaged or destroyed, health, water, sanitation and hygiene systems have collapsed, and there are severe shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter. .
In October, the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) estimated that 1.84 million people across Gaza faced high levels of food insecurity, and that 133,000 people faced catastrophic levels, which could lead to starvation and death.
The following month, the IPC committee warned that famine was “imminent” in some parts of northern Gaza.
Before the ceasefire, the UN said the besieged northern towns of Jabalia, Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun had been severely denied access to food aid since Israeli forces launched an offensive in October aimed at preventing a resurgence of Hamas.
A Palestinian woman who returned to her destroyed home in northern Gaza on Monday after the operation began expressed her shock at what she found after the withdrawal of Israeli forces.
“The whole area looked like it had been hit by an earthquake because of the violence,” Manal Abu al-Dragham told BBC Arabic’s Gaza Today.
“I will pitch my tent in the north no matter how much it costs… I don’t want to be kicked out of my country again.”
Mr. Rose said that Unrwa groups in the south of Gaza, where they are based, have not been able to cross into the north of Gaza because the Israeli army has not opened the routes through the east-west Netzarim corridor.
But he said Unrwa, as the biggest charity in Gaza, has networks with people on the ground who can help if given access.
However, UNRWA is facing an impending ban from Israel which will make it difficult to operate in Gaza.
Two laws passed by Israel’s parliament, which are due to come into effect next week, will ban the organization from operating on Israeli territory and prevent Israeli state agencies from communicating with it.
Israel has accused Unrwa of aligning with Hamas and said 18 of its employees were involved in the October 7 attack. The agency has fired nine employees a UN investigation found to be possibly involved and has insisted it is committed to neutrality.
The UN said that Unrwa cannot be replaced in Gaza while the commissioner general of the organization, Philippe Lazzarini, announced that thousands of Palestinian workers in Gaza will “stay and deliver” if the Israeli government enforces the two laws, although “it will come”. great personal danger” to them.
Source link
