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SvennoJ on 07 March 2024
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‘International crimes occur on daily basis in Gaza’: UN experts

A group of top UN experts say in a statement that “international crimes continue to take place on a daily basis in the Gaza Strip” by the Israeli military. The experts, including UN special rapporteurs on extrajudicial executions and torture, said the October 7 attack by armed Palestinians may have seen actions amounting to enforced disappearances and ill-treatment of captives.

They also said Israel’s actions since have resulted in the “deaths of tens of thousands of protected persons, including a large number of children, women and the elderly, which may amount to grave breaches of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, including war crimes and crimes against humanity”.

Their statement welcomed provisional rulings by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for Israel to stop acts constituting genocide, but warned that “much more needs to be urgently done in order to effectively and measurably stop any further carnage in Gaza”.

Gaza facts that ‘should keep us all awake at night’: UN

As the Gaza war entered its sixth month today, UN relief chief Martin Griffiths says these are six facts that should “keep us all awake at night”. He said more than half a million people are on the brink of famine and children are dying of hunger while only half of planned aid missions for February were allowed in by Israel.

Lawlessness is hindering aid distribution, “last resort” aid deliveries like airdrops are becoming increasingly common, and more than 160 UN staff have been killed, Griffiths said. The under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief also pointed out that the remaining captives in Gaza have not yet been released.

UN says most aid missions into northern Gaza blocked by Israel

Only six of 24 planned aid missions by the United Nations and its humanitarian partners to areas north of Wadi Gaza were given access by Israeli authorities in February.

The latest report by the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says there were more coordinated humanitarian missions across Gaza last month – 111 compared to 75 in January – but an “operational pause” after the Israeli navy attacked a UN-coordinated food convoy on February 5 meant most missions in northern Gaza were blocked.

Aid workers have also been killed and injured in Israeli attacks, and Palestinian police have been targeted by the Israeli military multiple times, the report confirmed.  “The cumulative effect of these disruptions had a tangible decrease in the efficiency and predictability of aid delivery into Gaza, with no evidence to suggest an imminent improvement in the situation.”

UK’s foreign minister says Gaza needs 500 aid trucks per day

David Cameron, during a news conference with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock, says that while the UK is exploring air and sea options to get much-needed aid into the Gaza Strip, the most effective way to immediately ease the suffering of Palestinians is to bring aid in via existing roads.

“Nothing must distract us from the fact that, ultimately, if we want to avoid famine, if we want to avoid disease, if we want to help people in Gaza, we need 500 trucks a day,” Cameron told reporters.

He called for, among other things, better deconfliction between aid organisations and the Israeli army. A number of incidents in the last two weeks have seen aid convoys come under Israeli attack, resulting in hundreds of dead and wounded Palestinians.


Veteran aid worker says Gaza crisis ‘worst’ of his career

Jean-Pierre Delomier says he has seen it all while responding to conflicts and disasters worldwide over the last several decades, but the Gaza war is by far “the worst”. Returning from an eight-day mission to the south of the besieged Palestinian territory, the deputy director of Handicap International – Humanity & Inclusion (HI) told AFP news agency that he is still “stunned”.

Delomier says he has never seen such a combination of “bombardment of an extremely densely populated and closed-off area, and a near-complete lack of access for humanitarian aid”. The United Nations has warned of looming famine, and calls have grown for the Israeli authorities to let in and ensure the safe delivery of desperately needed aid waiting in trucks on the Egyptian side of the border.

“I saw kilometres of trucks queueing on four lanes, all waiting to get into Gaza,” said 61-year-old Delomier. “Planes fly over to drop a few pallets, whereas just behind [the border fence] there are kilometres of pallets waiting that could just be let in,” he said.


Israel continues to claim ‘no limits’ on aid, countering UN

Israel is still claiming there are “no limits” on the amount of humanitarian aid that it allows into Gaza, contradicting frequent statements otherwise by the UN and top international rights organisations.

Israel’s Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories office claims 257 trucks carrying 5,160 tonnes of humanitarian aid entered the besieged enclave on Wednesday, with total aid since the start of the war amounting to 15,856 trucks carrying 292,700 tonnes of aid.

It told UN organisations that “you too should send aid trucks to the north [of Gaza], we will coordinate as usual”, on the same day the UN said it is considering using a road that goes through Israel to reach northern Gaza in an effort to protect aid convoys.

More daily gaslighting and lies. However it shows it's only 18.5 tons average per truck, or 20 tons avg for Wednesday.
If they can get 257 trucks in in a day, why is it under 50 on most days. And it still needs to be 500 a day at least.

Overall avg, 152 days, 104 per day. 1/5th of what's needed to maintain 2.3 million people in Gaza.

Israel ‘consistently, groundlessly’ blocked Gaza aid operations

Israel has “consistently and groundlessly” blocked aid operations for Gaza even as the enclave falls deeper into famine, according to a report released by humanitarian group Refugees International.

The aid group based its report on interviews with dozens of government officials, humanitarian workers, and NGO staff engaged in on-the-ground aid efforts from Egypt, Jordan, and Israel. It found that Israel:

  • “routinely and arbitrarily” stopped legitimate aid from reaching Gaza;
  • enforced a convoluted aid inspection process that lacked “clear or consistent instructions”;
  • regularly denied humanitarian convoys from moving into Gaza; and
  • waged “persistent attacks on Gaza’s humanitarian, health, food, power, and other critical infrastructure”.

The report added that all of that showed Gaza’s humanitarian crisis is caused by “Israeli policies and conduct”.