‘People are exhausted, fearful’ as Israel bombards Gaza City
As Israel pushes ahead with its plan to seize Gaza City and displace about one million people living there, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) notes that displacement sites across the enclave are already “at breaking point”.
“People are exhausted and fearful, caught between staying in Gaza City and fleeing south. Both choices are terrifying, and no one knows what to do”, Salma Altaweel, NRC’s northern Gaza office manager, said in a statement.
The humanitarian group also noted that more than 86 percent of Gaza is already under forced displacement or closed military zone orders by the Israeli military.
“There will be a damning historical verdict on global leaders who confine themselves to express ‘concern’ as civilians in Gaza are bombarded, displaced and starved”, NRC chief Jan Egeland said.
“An immediate ceasefire is the only way to stop the killing, secure the release of all hostages, and allow the massive humanitarian response needed to save lives.”
Palestinians salvage items from the rubble of homes destroyed in Israeli attacks in Gaza City, August 19
Israel makes getting any aid into Gaza ‘a gargantuan task’
That’s according to Chris McIntosh, a humanitarian response adviser at Oxfam in Gaza who says Israel has sidelined “the entire humanitarian community”.
“Ourselves and 60 other organisations were told that we’re simply not authorised to bring in the shipments [of aid],” McIntosh told Al Jazeera.
“Other organisations have been told that there are security concerns about bringing in things like generators. There are concerns about dual-purpose items like solar panels and tents being brought in,” he said.
“So there’s no end to the byzantine bureaucracy of Israel and these very flimsy excuses for not allowing us to do our jobs.”
McIntosh added that what little food is available in Gaza is limited, expensive and not nutritious, which causes acute malnutrition and starvation, particularly among children. “The situation here is catastrophic on multiple levels.”
Palestinians face ‘starvation, disease, and death’ in Gaza City: MSF
Israel’s intensified assault on Gaza City has forced Palestinians once again to flee in search of safety while causing destruction and “carnage” across the city, Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, is warning.
Amande Bazerolle, the head of MSF’s emergency response in Gaza, said the group’s clinics in the area have seen large numbers of patients as people leave bombarded neighbourhoods, including Zeitoun.
“All this is happening while famine in Gaza City has been declared by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC). You couldn’t imagine something more cynical: people being starved as the Israeli forces invade and destroy any life that remains,” Bazerolle said in a statement.
“This will lead to a complete and utter humanitarian disaster. As the Israeli forces accelerate their campaign of genocide and ethnic cleansing by expanding their military ground invasion into Gaza City, Palestinians trapped there face starvation, disease, and death.”
