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Gaza humanitarian crisis remains dire despite ceasefire: Red Crescent
Gaza’s population faces the same desperate humanitarian emergency as before the ceasefire began, the head of the Palestine Red Crescent Society has warned.
Younis al-Khatib said that residents are experiencing deep psychological harm and will need mental health care for years to come. “Rebuilding human beings is more difficult than rebuilding destroyed homes,” he said from Norway.
Grete Herlofson, the head of the Norwegian Red Cross, called Gaza’s circumstances “critical and desperate”, pointing to Israel’s repeated violations of international humanitarian law.
Both organisations said that discussions about reconstructing Gaza cannot begin until there is a lasting ceasefire and aid can move freely into the territory without Israeli restrictions.
The Palestine Red Crescent said that only 21 of its 58 ambulances remain operational because of fuel shortages.
UNICEF presses Israel to allow aid for Gaza’s ‘starving’ children
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says the tenuous truce in the Gaza Strip is positive, but much more needs to be done by Israel for the sake of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian children.
“The ceasefire is good news because children aren’t being killed every day, but just a ceasefire doesn’t put children back in school, stop them from starving, or give them access to clean water – the focus of the UNICEF’s activities in the Strip at the moment,” spokesperson Tess Ingram said from Gaza.
There are also preparations under way for the coming winter season and getting education up and running as soon as possible, Ingram told Al Jazeera.
“We really want to get all 650,000 school-aged children back into in-person learning. A proper education will lead to a foundation for a strong Gaza in the future and healing for themselves, their children, and their community.”
But equipment to clean up leftover ordnance and the war’s devastation still needs Israel’s approval.
“To clear rubble, we need to clear unexploded bombs to make sure it’s safe for children to return and, of course, we need to get in the materials which are still being denied,” said Ingram.
