Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Muhannad Hadi, the special UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, addressed the ambassadors of the UN Security Council states on Monday, Nov. 25, on the “ongoing devastation in Gaza,” which, he said, “persists relentlessly, with no resolution in sight” as winter approaches with its drenching rains and chilly temperatures, endangering lives.
Even as he was speaking, what is left of the Gaza government announced the grim news that this weekend storm surges along the coast destroyed 10,000 tents people had set up near the sea. Rain storms and wind have damaged 81% of refugee tents in Gaza, with 110,000 out of 135,000 tents needing to be immediately replaced.
Hadi warned that “the delivery of critical aid across Gaza is grinding to a halt.” He cautioned that as a result, the survival of two million people hangs in the balance.” He called on Israel to fulfill its responsibilities and to arrange for the swift and unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid throughout the Gaza Strip.
Hadi explained that in recent weeks, the Israeli military has catastrophically escalated its attacks on North Gaza, with what he called “mass casualty incidents” taking place “with alarming frequency.”
He gave some examples. For instance, on November 10, some 36 Palestinians, among them women and children, were killed and others injured when Israeli fighter-jets bombed a multi-story building in Jabalya Al Balad. (A multi-story building means an apartment building where families live.) Then on November 16, in Beit Lahiya, two separate Israeli airstrikes reportedly claimed the lives of at least 65 Palestinians, including women and children, as buildings sheltering displaced individuals were targeted. And these are just a few of the “mass casualty” attacks the Israelis have committed recently.
Since October 6, he said, the Israeli military has issued numerous expulsion orders, forcing more than 100,000 Palestinians to flee, mostly with nothing but the clothes on their backs, from North Gaza to the south. (This expulsion of the civilian population is a consequence of Israel’s resumption of military ground operations in the north, an area they declared cleared of Hamas fighters last year this time. – JC).
That is more than the entire population of Santa Fe, New Mexico, the capital of the state.
These refugees have mainly flooded into Gaza City, which now has some 375,000 residents even though much of its infrastructure and most of its domiciles have been destroyed.
Hadi doesn’t say so here, but many observers have concluded that the Israeli military is engaged in an attempt at complete ethnic cleansing of the north, which is a major war crime. This charge is underlined by the Israeli pledge that none of the refugees from the north will ever be allowed back.
The Israelis have destroyed civilian governance in Gaza. As Jan Engeland, the head of the Norwegian Humanitarian Council, affirms “The police was bombed to pieces by Israel, and Israel is giving us aid routes that are unsafe.”
There is no law and order and no mechanism to enforce it, since the Israelis, despite being the occupying power, are disregarding their consequent obligations to provide security to civilians.
As a result, Hadi says, “Looting of humanitarian supplies by Palestinians is intensifying and becoming more organized and more violent.”
He explains that on November 16, a UN convoy carrying 109 truckloads of food supplies was violently looted by gangs, resulting in the loss of 97 trucks. Two days later the Gaza Ministry of Interior attempted to crack down hard on the looters, in a battle that left 20 people dead. He insists that law and order must be restored.
After that major incident of looting, food prices soared. Most famines don’t occur because of lack of food but because the food becomes too pricey for people to afford it.
These events affect all of Gaza. As for the north, the UN alleges that the Israelis have allowed almost no food aid into North Gaza for a month.
Save the Children writes, “About 130,000 children aged under 10 have been trapped for 50 days in areas in northern Gaza that are almost entirely inaccessible to aid workers and not receiving food or medical supplies despite warnings of famine.”
The Anadolu News Agency reports, “Tahani Saad, 55, a mother of five, told Anadolu that flour is now scarce in the markets, with prices soaring. A 25-kilogram bag of flour currently costs 900 Shekels (approximately $250). ‘We are forced to use spoiled flour which may cause illnesses to us,’ Tahani Saad added.”
Hadi underlines that “the level of essential goods, including humanitarian assistance, that has been allowed into Gaza is inadequate to meet the overwhelming needs of the population.”
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Bonus Video:
Al Jazeera English: “Deir Al Balah hunger crisis: Long queues as bakeries run out of flour”
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