Crucial humanitarian aid piles up as Gaza stalked by starvation
Al Jazeera has obtained exclusive images taken Saturday morning showing the accumulation of humanitarian aid along the international road south of Egypt’s city of El Arish, waiting to cross into Gaza but prevented by Israel from doing so.
Images show a large number of trucks loaded with food, water, and medical supplies piling up on the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. The area around El Arish’s airport has witnessed a backlog of aid trucks for months during Israel’s continuing war and blockade of Gaza.
The humanitarian response in Gaza is on the verge of “total collapse” with Palestinians facing a “daily struggle to survive”, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Growing international outcry over Israel’s deadly Gaza blockade
The longest blockade on Gaza has sparked a growing international outcry, but it has failed to persuade Israel to open the land crossings. More groups accuse Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war. Residents and humanitarians warn that acute malnutrition among children is spiralling.
“We are breaking the bodies and minds of the children of Gaza,” Michael Ryan, executive director of emergencies at the World Health Organization, told reporters in Geneva.
“Because if we don’t do something about it, we are complicit in what is happening before our very eyes … The children should not have to pay the price.”
Israel imposed the total blockade on March 2, and then ended a two-month ceasefire by resuming attacks on March 18, saying both steps were necessary to pressure Hamas into releasing the captives. Before the ceasefire collapsed, Israel believed 59 captives were still inside Gaza, 24 of them alive and still in captivity.
