As Israel cuts off all humanitarian aid to Gaza, aid groups say they are scrambling to get ahead

Israel has blocked all humanitarian goodness in a standoff with the United States and Israeli-designated terrorist group Hamas Gaza ceasefire Advance is overdriven by humanitarian groups. The organization said they are trying to figure out how to allocate supply to the enclave’s most vulnerable approximately 2 million people, and fear that this will only get worse.

Officials in the central Gaza city of Deir Al-Balah said on Wednesday – Three Days Israel’s freeze On food, fuel, medicine and other supplies entering the Palestinian territory controlled by extinct Hamas – Israel has also cut off electricity from two desalinated plants, which supplies about 70% of the region’s inhabitants.

The aid freeze has made a weak progressive situation for humanitarian workers, saying they are avoiding famine in Gaza during the first phase of the ceasefire agreed by Israel and Hamas in January. The first phase ended on March 1, and it is unclear how Israel pushes for the extension of the phase one, while Hamas calls for the second phase to transition two.

“The Israeli decision is that with the beginning of Ramadan, aid for more than 2 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip is a reckless collective punishment act, explicitly prohibited under international humanitarian law,” the UK-based charity said. “Humanitarian aid is not a bargaining chip to put pressure on the parties, but a fundamental right that civilians desperately need in challenging and life-threatening environments.”

Israel says aid lockdown is intended to force Hamas to accept Proposed expansion of the first phase It was said in the ceasefire that it was drafted by the Trump administration. Under the proposal, Israel demanded that Hamas hand over the remaining 59 hostages to half immediately, which would be a significant change in the terminology initially based on the deal reached by the United States, Qatar and Egypt.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday he was ready to increase pressure on Hamas and he would not rule out cutting off all Gaza power in Gaza during a part of the pressure movement.

Human rights and humanitarians, including Oxfam, accused Israel of using hunger as a weapon of war in Gaza for months

The aid team said there will be “disastrous results” as of now

After 16 months of war, Gaza’s population was entirely dependent on truck-style food and other aid. Most residents are displaced and many need shelter. Fuel is needed to keep hospitals, water pumps, bakeries and telecommunications as well as trucks that provide assistance to run.

Estimated 70% Buildings in Gaza have been destroyed Shaina Low, communications adviser for the Norwegian Refugee Commission, said there were no large stocks of damaged tents or other temporary shelters during the war, for Palestinians to rely on Palestinians during the aid freeze. The assistance received during the first phase of the ceasefire was “far from enough to meet all needs”.

Laut noted that six babies in Gaza died of hypothermia during the first phase of the ceasefire deal, and “if enough, we wouldn’t die from exposure due to lack of shelter materials and warm clothing and proper medical equipment to treat them.”

“We’re trying to figure out, what do we have? What’s the best use of our supply?” said Jonathan Crickx, UNICEF’s communications director. “We never sat on the supply, so it wasn’t about distributing a lot.”

If aid is frozen, Crickx predicts that catastrophic results will produce “disaster results.”

During the first phase of the ceasefire, humanitarian institutions rushed into the supplies and quickly improved their capabilities. Aid staff have established more food kitchens, sanitation centers and water distribution points. According to the United Nations Humanitarian Coordination Agency (OCHA), as the electric pumps have more fuel, they are able to double the amount of water drawn from the well.

The United Nations and associated NGOs bring about 100,000 tents, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians try to return home Found them destroyed Or too damaged. But progress depends on the flow of aid.

Karl Baker, the agency’s regional crisis coordinator, said the IOM has 22,500 tents sitting in Jordan’s warehouses.

The International Rescue Commission, which has 14,771 pounds of medicine and medical supplies, is waiting to enter Gaza, now deliveries are “highly uncertain”.

“Aid access must now be resumed immediately. With humanitarian demand, the sky needs to be higher and more aid access is needed, not less,” the kitchen said.

Medical assistance from the Palestinian organization says its trucks are hung on the border and carry medical, mattresses and auxiliary equipment for people with disabilities. Map spokesman Tess Pope said the organization has some medicines and materials in Gaza, but we have no stocks that we can use during the prolonged closure. ”

The UN Humanitarian Office said on Tuesday that prices of vegetables and flour soared in Gaza after Israel closed its border crossings.

After the deadline was announced, Sayed Mohamed Al-Dairi left the bustling market in Gaza City. Prices that had just begun to fall during the ceasefire rose as sellers caught up with the prices of their reduced items.

“Traders are squeezing us, and traders are not sympathetic to us,” he said. “In the morning, the price of sugar was five shekels. Now ask him, the price has become 10 shekels.”

In the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah, 21 Shekels sold 2.2 pounds of chicken (about $5.76) are now 50 Shekels, or about $14. Cooking gas has soared by 26 pounds from 90 Scheker ($24.70), which is equivalent to $406.24.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas triggered a terrorist attack on Israel, and Israel cut off all aid from Gaza. This move is at the center of the South African case Accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza in the International Court of Justice. This happened at the most intense stage of Israel’s air bombing campaign against Gaza, the most aggressive in modern history.

With the fate of the ceasefire deeply uncertain and re-assistance, Palestinians are worried about repeating that period.

“We are worried that Netanyahu or Trump will launch a more serious war,” said Abeer Obeid, a Palestinian woman from northern Gaza.

“Crossing is a means for people to get basic necessities in their lives, why shut them down,” she asked. “In order to extend the armistice, they have to find other solutions.”

Haley Ott contributed to the report.