15 aid agencies demand arms embargo, end to Israel’s systematic obstruction of aid to Gaza
Fifteen international aid organisations have come together to call for international pressure for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, an arms embargo on Israel and an end to the occupation of Palestinian territory.
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Eighty-three per cent of required food aid does not make it into Gaza, up from 34 per cent in 2023, they added. “This reduction means people in Gaza have gone from having an average of two meals a day to just one meal every other day.”
This “drastic fall in aid … is driving a humanitarian disaster, with the entire population of Gaza facing hunger and disease, and almost half a million at risk of starvation,” they warned.
Prior to Israel launching its most recent war on Gaza in October 2023, 500 trucks of aid entered the Strip, “which was already not enough to meet people’s needs”, the aid organisations said, adding: “A record low average of 69 aid trucks per day entered Gaza in August 2024.”
Meanwhile, Israel imposes “delays and denials which restrict the movement of aid around Gaza; tightly restrictive and unpredictable control of imports.”
Jolien Veldwijik, CARE Country Director in the West Bank and Gaza, said: “The situation was intolerable long before last October’s escalation and is beyond catastrophic now. Over 11 months, we have reached shocking levels of conflict, displacement, disease and hunger. Yet, aid is still not getting in, and humanitarian workers are risking their lives to do their jobs while attacks and violations of international law intensify.”
Amjad Al Shawa, the director of the Palestinian NGOs Network (PNGO), an umbrella
organisation of 30 Palestinian NGOs and a partner of ActionAid, said:
There is a shortage of all humanitarian items. We are overwhelmed [with] these needs and [these] urgent requirements…People [are] starving due to the shortage of aid…100% of the population depend on humanitarian aid…It’s the worst situation that we [witnessed] during …. the Israel war in Gaza.
The 15 agencies went on to “demand compliance” with the International Court of Justice’s findings and recommendations, an end to the Israeli government’s siege of Gaza, and heed the call of the ICJ in its advisory opinion to end the occupation of Palestinian territory.
